Musk’s Twitter account to lift ban on political advertisements ‘in the coming weeks’
Twitter intends to lift restrictions on political ads. It stated that it will allow issue-based paid content immediately on the platform, while political advertisements would return “in the next weeks.”
The announcement was made as advertisers have fled the platform In droves following Elon Musk’s takeover of last October, which was followed up by an increase in hate speech as well as the reinstatement and suspension of several right-wing accounts.
Lifting bans on advertisements from politicians and issue-based groups — which have been in place since 2019 — could potentially lead to more revenue for the platform.
Reversal: Twitter Safety’s account On Tuesday night, the company announced these changes via Twitter, stating that they believe cause-based ads can encourage public conversation about important topics. Today, we have relaxed our advertising policy in the US for cause-based ads.
The company also indicated plans to expand political ads, but didn’t specify a time frame beyond “weeks.”
It is the latest of a number of Musk actions that reverse policies established under Jack Dorsey (ex-CEO and co-founder). Dorsey banned all political ads in November 2019“, a statement in an October 2019 Twitter thread that paying for political reach “has significant ramifications that today’s democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle.”
Ned Segal was also Twitter’s previous Chief Financial Officer. tweeted that political advertising In the 2018 midterm cycle, less than $3million was accounted for by Twitter. Twitter had $3 billion in total revenue in 2018.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request to comment on why it had reversed its policies.
Ads based on issues are acceptable: Twitter reversed Dorsey’s restrictions on issue-based (or cause-based) ads — set in November 2019 — that banned the promotion of such ads and required advertiser certification for ads that “educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes.”
Musk has radically reshaped the platform, since he bought it at $44 billion. He laid off thousands, oversaw a mass exodus and earned a lot of money. sharp warning from the FTC.
Prior to Musk’s acquisition, 90% of Twitter’s revenue was from advertising. However, major advertisers have stopped following Musk’s loose approach to content moderation. Musk launched a redesigned version of the $8 monthly Twitter Blue subscription service in late 2013. He also lifted political and issue-based bans on ad blocking. This could provide additional revenue for the company.