Twitter to expand permitted political advertising

SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter on Tuesday said it would expand the types of political ads allowed on the social media platform.

It is an apparent reversal of its 2019 global ban on political ads, as the

Elon Musk-owned company

seeks to grow revenue.

The company tweeted it would also relax its advertising policy for “cause-based ads” in the United States.

Moving forward, it would align its advertising policy “with that of TV and other media outlets”.

Twitter banned political ads in 2019 after it and other social media companies like Facebook faced widespread criticism for allowing election misinformation to spread across its services. It also restricted ads related to social causes.

“We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,” tweeted Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s then-chief executive, in announcing the move.

Since Mr Musk took over Twitter in late October, corporate advertisers have fled in response to the Tesla CEO

laying off thousands of employees,

reversing the

permanent suspension of former US president Donald Trump

and rushing a

paid verification feature

that resulted in scammers impersonating publicly-listed companies on Twitter. REUTERS