Popular social media Twitter’s rebranded version X will now allow political advertisements while overturning their ban on such promotions since 2019. Although the move is focused on the 2024 US Presidential election, India’s general election next year will also see a great impact.
The company on Tuesday announced that it will still prohibit the promotion of “false or misleading content, including false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election, while seeking to preserve free and open political discourse”.
“Building on our commitment to free expression, we are also going to allow political advertising. Starting in the U.S., we’ll continue to apply specific policies to paid-for promoted political posts,” reads the statement from X.
Twitter, acquired by billionaire Elon Musk last year and subsequently rebranded as X, banned political advertising in 2019 ahead of the 2020 US presidential vote.
The company’s then-CEO Jack Dorsey said that “political message reach should be earned, not bought”.
“We’ll also provide a global advertising transparency center so that everyone can review political posts being promoted on X, in addition to robust screening processes to ensure only eligible groups and campaigns are able to advertise,” stated the social media giant.
