Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced on Wednesday afternoon that the social media platform will no longer allow political advertising. The announcement came in a lengthy tweet thread that included an explanation.
âWe believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,â Dorsey said.
âA political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people. We believe this decision should not be compromised by money,â he explained.
He noted that it wasnât fair to ban political advertising by candidates, but allow it for everyone else. He also noted the decision was made in order to maintain credibility for the platform. âFor instance, itâs not credible for us to say: âWeâre working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political adâŠwellâŠthey can say whatever they want!â he said.
He also called for âforward-thinkingâ regulation of political ads in order to âlevel the playing field.
âThis isnât about free expression. This is about paying for reach. And paying to increase the reach of political speech has significant ramifications that todayâs democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle,â he concluded.
He policy will be enforced starting November 22, 2019. Ads supporting voter registration will still be allowed (look to see an uptick in groups registering voters).
Twitter was criticized for censoring pro-life advertising by groups like Live Action and Susan B. Anthony List, while at the same time not restricting advertising by Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups.
Creating a dependency on organic reach, however, will not end criticism of Twitterâs perceived bias as the platform is accused of shadow banning conservatives and trend manipulation. There is also concern among conservatives that their side of cultural issues on life, family, and marriage will be considered âpoliticalâ while progressive messages highlighting âreproductive healthâ and LGBTQ issues will not be considered political.