Elon Musk's Twitter Will Allow More Political Ads, Reversing 2019 Global Ban

Twitter has reversed another ban under Elon Musk's leadership. But this time, it does not include any controversial figures that were previously prohibited from the platform, rather, it is a global ban on political ads in 2019.

As reported first by Reuters, the social media company plans to expand the types of political ads permitted on the platform.

2019 Ban on Political Ads

The year 2019 saw Twitter prohibit political advertising following harsh criticism directed at the app and other social media platforms like Facebook for aiding the spread of false information during elections. Additionally, it prohibited commercials for social purposes.

The bird app's former CEO Jack Dorsey said they imposed the ban back then believing that political message reach must be earned and not bought.

But on Tuesday, Twitter tweeted: "we believe that cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics. Today, we're relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US. We also plan to expand the political advertising we permit in the coming weeks."

In another tweet, the company said that it will align its advertising policy with TV and other media outlets. They are still reviewing the policy change and will share more details soon.

Twitter's Efforts in Combatting Election Disinformation

Twitter has made strides over the years to stop the spread of disinformation and hate speech on the platform. These efforts are evident in the suspension of several figures that were deemed fake news purveyors and proliferators of harmful speech.

For instance, the platform fact-checked most of former US President Donald Trump's tweets during the 2020 elections. Although some questioned if Twitter was censoring freedom of speech, it continued to double down on political content that contain misinformation or disinformation.

The bird app eventually issued a permanent ban on Trump, for supposedly inciting violence with his tweets during the January 2021 Capital riots. The former president went on to create his own app to continue voicing his views and opinions online.

However, Elon Musk took the reigns and enforced his free speech absolutist stance. He has since lifted the ban on Trump and other controversial figures after granting them a general amnesty.

These changes have prompted several celebrities and public personalities to leave the platform, such as Gigi Hadid, Sara Bareilles, Toni Braxton, Elton John, Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, and many more.

Twitter's workforce has also been drastically reduced after Musk fired most of the company's board and some of its workers leaving their posts when the billionaire imposed a "hardcore" working ultimatum.

The diaspora of celebrities, workers, and users of the bird app has also sparked the popularity of an alternative app called Mastodon.

Mastodon reported a surge in monthly active users from 300,000 to 2.5 million between October to November. The app claims that some 655,000 users have turned to their platform following concerns that Twitter will shut down because of its reduced workforce.