United States: The social media platform ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, said it would now allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties. It will still prohibit the promotion of false information, as per the report.
In a recent blog post, X detailed its strategy for handling “political discussions” as the election approaches.
Prior to billionaire Mr. Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company in October 2022, X had enforced a global ban on all political advertisements since 2019. However, in January 2023, the platform lifted this ban and started permitting “cause-related ads” in the US, particularly those that promote awareness of topics like voter registration.
“Building on our commitment to free expression, we are also going to allow political advertising. Starting in the US, we’ll continue to apply specific policies to paid-for, promoted political posts,” X said in the post.
“This will include prohibiting 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,” as per the blog post.
The company has pledged to establish a worldwide advertising transparency hub, allowing users to view promoted political ads on X. They also confirmed their commitment to preventing political ads that disseminate false information or attempt to destroy public trust in elections. This aligns with the company’s aim of safeguarding free and open political discussions.
After Mr. Musk took over, X faced concerns about its preparedness for the US presidential election. This was due to significant layoffs, including staff from the trust and safety team. The platform, like others on social media, has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent false information during elections.
These criticisms intensified after the events of 6 January, 2021, when former US President Mr. Donald Trump used Twitter to incite his supporters, who later stormed the US Capitol. Mr. Trump was banned from the platform but had the ban lifted by Mr. Musk in November 2022.
Despite this, the former President remained inactive on Twitter until last week, when he posted a picture of his mugshot after surrendering to racketeering and conspiracy charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
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