The Election Commission of India has made pre-certification of all political ads mandatory on electronic media, including social media. All national and state political parties and candidates must declare an authentic social media account. They should approach the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMCs) at the district and state level for the pre-approval of any political content intended for public dissemination. According to the statement, MCMC has been formed at the district and state level, and it maintains a persistent vigil.&nbsp;According to the commission order dated October 14, 2025, the directive will apply ahead of the Bihar assembly polls and bypolls in eight assembly constituencies across six states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The political parties and candidates are directed to submit a report of the expenditure made for any such campaign and other operational expenditure during the period of the election within 75 days of the completion of the assembly elections, under section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951.&nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Political Parties to get advertisements pre-certified by Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC); Candidates to inform the Commission of their authentic social media accounts, says the Election Commission of India. <a href="https://t.co/AfuQGAf71u">pic.twitter.com/AfuQGAf71u</a>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1977955398977241383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<h2>Backdoor to censorship&nbsp;</h2>The Election Commission of India, during the General Assembly election, allowed the ruling BJP to blatantly violate the Model Code of Conduct. It said no political advertisements were allowed one day before poll day, but most of the newspapers displayed full-page religious messaging of the BJP. &nbsp;The rule only applied to opposition when Dordarshan censored opposition on the pretence of MCC. The AIR and Doordarshan asked CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and All India Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan to omit phrases like “communal authoritarian regime”, “Muslim”, and “draconian laws” before the General Assembly election in 2024. However, a report by Newslaundry shows that Prime Minister Modi went on to use words like “Muslims”, “vote jihad” and “Ram temple”.&nbsp;He also blatantly spread misinformation, such as: In Karnataka, ”all Muslims have been turned into OBCs overnight”, and in Kolkata, opposition would redistribute wealth to those who do “vote jihad”, to name only a few.Even though the &nbsp;EC mandate of pre-certification of all political ads is intended to increase transparency and stop the spreading of inflammatory content and fake news, it may also be used for preemptive, partisan censorship. While ostensibly neutral, it could disproportionately affect dissenting voices and opposing political parties if the commission leans towards the ruling party, which has been the case till now.&nbsp;

EC mandates pre-certification of all political ads; even though meant to counter fake news, the partisan history of the EC hints at suppressing opposition voices ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.

The Election Commission of India has made pre-certification of all political ads mandatory on electronic media, including social media. All national and state political parties and candidates must declare an authentic social media account. They should approach the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMCs) at the district and state level for the pre-approval of any political content intended for public dissemination. According to the statement, MCMC has been formed at the district and state level, and it maintains a persistent vigil. According to the commission order dated October 14, 2025, the directive will apply ahead of the Bihar assembly polls and bypolls in eight assembly constituencies across six states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The political parties and candidates are directed to submit a report of the expenditure made for any such campaign and other operational expenditure during the period of the election within 75 days of the completion of the assembly elections, under section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951.

EC mandates pre-certification of all political ads; even though meant to counter fake news, the partisan history of the EC hints at suppressing opposition voices ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.

EC mandates pre-certification for political ads on social media, backdoor to censorship?

Meta Platforms on Wednesday said come 2024, advertisers will have to disclose when artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital methods are used to alter or create political, social or election related advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta, the world's second-biggest platform for digital ads, said in a blog post it would require advertisers to disclose if their altered or created ads portray real people as doing or saying something that they did not, or if they digitally produce a real-looking person that does not exist.

The company would also ask advertisers to disclose if these ads show events that did not take place, alter footage of a real event, or even depict a real event without the true image, video, or audio recording of the actual event.

ALSO READ |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/meta-teases-ai-features-into-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-for-billions-of-users-602535">&nbsp;Meta teases AI features in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp for billions of users</a>

The policy updates, including Meta's earlier announcement on barring political advertisers from using generative AI ads tools, come a month after the Facebook-owner said it was starting to expand advertisers' access to AI-powered advertising tools that can instantly create backgrounds, image adjustments and variations of ad copy in response to simple text prompt.

Alphabet's Google, the biggest digital advertising company, announced the launch of similar image-customizing generative AI ads tools last week and said it planned to keep politics out of its products by blocking a list of "political keywords" from being used as prompts.

Lawmakers in the US&nbsp;have been concerned about the use of AI to create content that falsely depicts candidates in political advertisements to influence federal elections, with a slew of new "generative AI" tools making it cheap and easy to create convincing deepfakes.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/users-say-facebooks-new-ai-generated-stickers-are-problematic-643111">Users say Facebook's new AI-generated stickers are problematic</a>

Meta has already been blocking its user-facing Meta AI virtual assistant from creating photo-realistic images of public figures, and its top policy executive, Nick Clegg, said last month that the use of generative AI in political advertising was "clearly an area where we need to update our rules."

The company's new policy will not require disclosures when the digital content is "inconsequential or immaterial to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad," including image size adjusting, cropping an image, colour correction, or image sharpening, it said.&nbsp;

Meta Platforms on Wednesday said come 2024, advertisers will have to disclose when artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital methods are used to alter or create political, social or election related advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta Platforms on Wednesday said come 2024, advertisers will have to disclose when artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital methods are used to alter or create political, social or election related advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. Meta, the world's second-biggest platform for digital ads, said in a blog post it would require advertisers to disclose if their altered or created ads portray real people as doing or saying something that they did not, or if they digitally produce a real-looking person that does not exist. The company would also ask advertisers to disclose if these ads show events that did not take place, alter footage of a real event, or even depict a real event without the true image, video, or audio recording of the actual event. ALSO READ | Meta teases AI features in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp for billions of users The policy updates, including Meta's earlier announcement on barring political advertisers from using generative AI ads tools, come a month after the Facebook-owner said it was starting to expand advertisers' access to AI-powered advertising tools that can instantly create backgrounds, image adjustments and variations of ad copy in response to simple text prompt. Alphabet's Google, the biggest digital advertising company, announced the launch of similar image-customizing generative AI ads tools last week and said it planned to keep politics out of its products by blocking a list of "political keywords" from being used as prompts. Lawmakers in the US have been concerned about the use of AI to create content that falsely depicts candidates in political advertisements to influence federal elections, with a slew of new "generative AI" tools making it cheap and easy to create convincing deepfakes. ALSO READ | Users say Facebook's new AI-generated stickers are problematic Meta has already been blocking its user-facing Meta AI virtual assistant from creating photo-realistic images of public figures, and its top policy executive, Nick Clegg, said last month that the use of generative AI in political advertising was "clearly an area where we need to update our rules." The company's new policy will not require disclosures when the digital content is "inconsequential or immaterial to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad," including image size adjusting, cropping an image, colour correction, or image sharpening, it said.

Meta to require disclosures for AI-created, altered political ads

As election misinformation continued to rage online, Facebook Inc said on Wednesday its post-election ban on political ads would likely last another month, raising concerns from campaigns and groups eager to reach voters for key Georgia Senate races in January.

Facebook, which had announced the ban as part of measures to combat misinformation and other abuses on its site, had previously said the ban would last at least a week but could be extended. Alphabet Inc's Google also appeared to be sticking with its post-election political ad ban.

"While multiple sources have projected a presidential winner, we still believe it's important to help prevent confusion or abuse on our platform," Facebook told advertisers in an email seen by Reuters, which told advertisers to expect the pause to last another month though there "may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/a-sikh-facebook-group-is-not-impressed-with-kamala-harris-heres-why-342137" hreflang="en">A Sikh Facebook group is not impressed with Kamala Harris. Here's why</a>

Baseless claims about the election reverberated around social media this week as President Donald Trump continued to challenge the validity of the outcome, even as state officials reported no significant irregularities and legal experts cautioned he had little chance to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Google declined to answer questions about the length of its ad pause. A Google spokeswoman previously said the company would lift the ban based on factors such as the time needed for votes to be counted and whether there was civil unrest.

The bans mean that the platforms are not currently accepting election ads ahead of the two U.S. Senate runoff races in Georgia that could decide control of that chamber.

"It is driving us absolutely bonkers," said Mark Jablonowski, managing partner of DSPolitical, a digital firm that works with Democratic causes.

"They're essentially holding the rest of the political process hostage," said Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, who said he thought the companies' concerns about ads on the election outcome did not require a blanket ban. "This is something that deserves a scalpel and they're using a rusty ax," he added.

Social media companies declined to say when they would lift other "break-glass" measures introduced to curb election misinformation and calls for violence in unpaid posts, like Facebook's limits on the distribution of live videos and demotions on content that its systems predict may be misinformation.

Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said those emergency measures would not be permanent, but added that rollback was "not imminent."

Also read: F<a href="http://13.235.153.162/technology/facebook-takes-down-group-stop-the-steal-alleging-voter-fraud-by-democrats-342138" hreflang="en">acebook takes down group 'Stop The Steal' alleging voter fraud by Democrats</a>

"The reality is right now that we are not through the danger zone," said Vanita Gupta, chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Democratic strategists, including members of the Biden campaign who tweeted criticism of Facebook, this week said social media companies still were not effectively combating the spread of viral lies.

In one Facebook group created on Sunday, which rapidly grew to more than 350,000 members by Tuesday, members calling for a nationwide recount swapped unfounded accusations about alleged election fraud and shifting state vote counts every few seconds.

Nina Jankowitz, a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, said the ad pauses were needed though not sufficient for tackling false information.

"Clearly President Trump does not think the election is over so I don't think the platforms should treat it as if it does," she said.

As election misinformation continued to rage online, Facebook Inc said on Wednesday its post-election ban on political ads would likely last another month, raising concerns from campaigns and groups eager to reach voters for key Georgia Senate races in January.

As election misinformation continued to rage online, Facebook Inc said on Wednesday its post-election ban on political ads would likely last another month, raising concerns from campaigns and groups eager to reach voters for key Georgia Senate races in January. Facebook, which had announced the ban as part of measures to combat misinformation and other abuses on its site, had previously said the ban would last at least a week but could be extended. Alphabet Inc's Google also appeared to be sticking with its post-election political ad ban. "While multiple sources have projected a presidential winner, we still believe it's important to help prevent confusion or abuse on our platform," Facebook told advertisers in an email seen by Reuters, which told advertisers to expect the pause to last another month though there "may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner." Also read: A Sikh Facebook group is not impressed with Kamala Harris. Here's why Baseless claims about the election reverberated around social media this week as President Donald Trump continued to challenge the validity of the outcome, even as state officials reported no significant irregularities and legal experts cautioned he had little chance to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Google declined to answer questions about the length of its ad pause. A Google spokeswoman previously said the company would lift the ban based on factors such as the time needed for votes to be counted and whether there was civil unrest. The bans mean that the platforms are not currently accepting election ads ahead of the two U.S. Senate runoff races in Georgia that could decide control of that chamber. "It is driving us absolutely bonkers," said Mark Jablonowski, managing partner of DSPolitical, a digital firm that works with Democratic causes. "They're essentially holding the rest of the political process hostage," said Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, who said he thought the companies' concerns about ads on the election outcome did not require a blanket ban. "This is something that deserves a scalpel and they're using a rusty ax," he added. Social media companies declined to say when they would lift other "break-glass" measures introduced to curb election misinformation and calls for violence in unpaid posts, like Facebook's limits on the distribution of live videos and demotions on content that its systems predict may be misinformation. Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said those emergency measures would not be permanent, but added that rollback was "not imminent." Also read: Facebook takes down group 'Stop The Steal' alleging voter fraud by Democrats "The reality is right now that we are not through the danger zone," said Vanita Gupta, chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Democratic strategists, including members of the Biden campaign who tweeted criticism of Facebook, this week said social media companies still were not effectively combating the spread of viral lies. In one Facebook group created on Sunday, which rapidly grew to more than 350,000 members by Tuesday, members calling for a nationwide recount swapped unfounded accusations about alleged election fraud and shifting state vote counts every few seconds. Nina Jankowitz, a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, said the ad pauses were needed though not sufficient for tackling false information. "Clearly President Trump does not think the election is over so I don't think the platforms should treat it as if it does," she said.

Facebook extends ban on US political ads for another month

In a bid to counter fake news and misinformation campaigns, Facebook on Wednesday said it will stop carrying political advertisements in the US for an undefined period post the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">presidential election </a>in the United States.&nbsp;

"(Though) ads are an important way to express voice, we plan to temporarily stop running all social issue, electoral or political ads in the US after the polls close on November 3, to reduce opportunities for confusion or abuse," Facebook, in a blogpost said.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/trumps-misleading-covid-19-posts-deleted-by-facebook-and-hidden-by-twitter-333111">Trump's misleading COVID-19 posts deleted by Facebook and hidden by Twitter</a>

Earlier, the social media giant vowed to prevent posting new political ads a week before the November 3 election.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-classifies-qanon-as-dangerous-bans-groups-and-accounts-333040">Facebook classifies QAnon as dangerous, bans groups and accounts</a>

The blog also said that Facebook would also add "specific information" on posts if a candidate or party declares "premature victory"

" (If) a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets," it said, "we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined."

On Thursday, the social media giant took a crackdown on fake accounts that were praising US President Donald Trump.&nbsp;

Facebook said it has banned US marketing firm Rally Forge for coordinating the "inauthentic behaviour", by way of bogus accounts to comment on news pieces rather than publishing their own article.&nbsp;

It included criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and appreciation of Trump and his Republican party.&nbsp;

In a bid to counter fake news and misinformation campaigns, Facebook on Wednesday said it will stop carrying political advertisements in the US for an undefined period post the presidential election in the United States.

In a bid to counter fake news and misinformation campaigns, Facebook on Wednesday said it will stop carrying political advertisements in the US for an undefined period post the presidential election in the United States. "(Though) ads are an important way to express voice, we plan to temporarily stop running all social issue, electoral or political ads in the US after the polls close on November 3, to reduce opportunities for confusion or abuse," Facebook, in a blogpost said. Also read | Trump's misleading COVID-19 posts deleted by Facebook and hidden by Twitter Earlier, the social media giant vowed to prevent posting new political ads a week before the November 3 election. Also read | Facebook classifies QAnon as dangerous, bans groups and accounts The blog also said that Facebook would also add "specific information" on posts if a candidate or party declares "premature victory" " (If) a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets," it said, "we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined." On Thursday, the social media giant took a crackdown on fake accounts that were praising US President Donald Trump. Facebook said it has banned US marketing firm Rally Forge for coordinating the "inauthentic behaviour", by way of bogus accounts to comment on news pieces rather than publishing their own article. It included criticism of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and appreciation of Trump and his Republican party.

Facebook to temporarily stop posting political ads in US after presidential election

&nbsp;

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03.

Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US elections</a>. However, a fixed timeline was not revealed at that time.

Now, the decision has been announced explaining that in addition to the political campaigns, all ads created to social issues will also face the ban.&nbsp;

<a href="wionews.com/world/six-takeaways-from-the-vice-presidential-debate-333402">Also read:&nbsp;Six takeaways from the vice-presidential debate</a>

In addition to this, if any political party claims victory or predicts results before the the administration or main media houses release the result, Facebook will be adding additional notices around those posts.

"If a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets, we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined," said vice president of integrity Guy Rosen.

The decision has been taken as an extension of the careful approach that various social media platforms such as Twitter and&nbsp;Facebook have adopted for the past few months in respect to the misinformation being spread about the US elections.

Facebook's decision to suspend all such posts is&nbsp;being read as an effort to curb President Trump's warning of not coooperating during the transition of power if he loses the elections.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/next-us-presidential-debate-to-be-virtual-trump-says-wont-participate-333504">Also read:&nbsp;Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate'</a>

"We will remove statements of intent or advocacy to go to an election site with military language," the&nbsp;vice president of content policy Monika Bickert.

"We will also remove calls to go to polls to monitor if it involves exerting control or showing power."

This decision has come after Facebook actively banned the posts that urged citizens to head out and cast their votes, as the social media platform said it sends out a wrong message with respect to the existing COVID-19 guidelines of staying indoors.

Facebook has also revealed that the platform has removed nearly 120,000 posts on Facebook and Instagram that were spreading the wrong information and and has added warning labels on more than 150 million posts on Facebook.

The platform is also redirecting people to voting information centre that has been set up by facebook and has, till now, helped nearly 2.5 million people register to vote.

The experts at Facebook are also prepared to spot, identify and kill the posts and content that can go viral and result in acivil unrest.

Nick Clegg, a former deputy British prime minister who is Facebook's head of global affairs, said recently that the social platform could take exceptional steps to "restrict the circulation of content" in case of turmoil.

"There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances," Clegg said,

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03. Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming US elections.

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03. Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming US elections. However, a fixed timeline was not revealed at that time. Now, the decision has been announced explaining that in addition to the political campaigns, all ads created to social issues will also face the ban. Also read: Six takeaways from the vice-presidential debate In addition to this, if any political party claims victory or predicts results before the the administration or main media houses release the result, Facebook will be adding additional notices around those posts. "If a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets, we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined," said vice president of integrity Guy Rosen. The decision has been taken as an extension of the careful approach that various social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have adopted for the past few months in respect to the misinformation being spread about the US elections. Facebook's decision to suspend all such posts is being read as an effort to curb President Trump's warning of not coooperating during the transition of power if he loses the elections. Also read: Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate' "We will remove statements of intent or advocacy to go to an election site with military language," the vice president of content policy Monika Bickert. "We will also remove calls to go to polls to monitor if it involves exerting control or showing power." This decision has come after Facebook actively banned the posts that urged citizens to head out and cast their votes, as the social media platform said it sends out a wrong message with respect to the existing COVID-19 guidelines of staying indoors. Facebook has also revealed that the platform has removed nearly 120,000 posts on Facebook and Instagram that were spreading the wrong information and and has added warning labels on more than 150 million posts on Facebook. The platform is also redirecting people to voting information centre that has been set up by facebook and has, till now, helped nearly 2.5 million people register to vote. The experts at Facebook are also prepared to spot, identify and kill the posts and content that can go viral and result in acivil unrest. Nick Clegg, a former deputy British prime minister who is Facebook's head of global affairs, said recently that the social platform could take exceptional steps to "restrict the circulation of content" in case of turmoil. "There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances," Clegg said,

Facebook to ban political ads after US election poll ends to curb fake news

Google on Wednesday updated how it handles political ads as <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/now-have-a-news-host-in-your-devices-google-assistant-263271">online platforms</a> remain under pressure to avoid being used to spread misleading information intended to influence voters.

The internet company said its rules already ban any advertiser, including those with political messages, from lying in ads. But it is making its policy more clear and adding examples of how that prohibits content such as doctored or manipulated images or video.

"It's against our policies for any advertiser to make a false claim,&nbsp;whether it's a claim about the price of a chair or a claim that you can vote by text message, that election day is postponed, or that a candidate has died," Google ads product management vice president Scott Spencer said in an online post.

Examples of banned ad material included ads or links to information making demonstrably false claims that could undermine voter trust or participation in elections.

"Of course, we recognize that robust political dialogue is an important part of democracy, and no one can sensibly adjudicate every political claim, counterclaim, and insinuation," Spencer said.

"So we expect that the number of political ads on which we take action will be very limited - but we will continue to do so for clear violations."

Google's main formats for political advertising are ads posted along with search query results, those shown at video viewing service YouTube, and display ads that appear on websites.

Google will also limit the targeting of political ads to general categories such as age, gender, or postal code level location.

"Political advertisers can, of course, continue to do contextual targeting, such as serving ads to people reading or watching a story about, say, the economy," Spencer said/.

"This will align our approach to election ads with long-established practices in media such as TV, radio, and print, and result in election ads being more widely seen and available for public discussion."

Google will begin enforcing the changes in Britain within a week and throughout the EU by the end of the year, then in the rest of the world starting January 6, according to Spencer.

Watch: Google claims quantum supremacy

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/google-claims-quantum-supremacy-257905/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Speech vs Truth

Snap this week confirmed that it checks political ads at Snapchat to make sure they are not deceptive or misleading and thus enforce its ban on such material.

The strategy seems to be a middle ground between Facebook's controversial tolerance of proven lies in political ads and Twitter's decision to ban them altogether.

Snap policies prohibit political ads that are deceptive or misleading, with an in-house team reviewing such paid messages to make sure they don't break the rules.

Twitter last week said its ban on political ads will exempt "cause-based" messages on topics related to social or environmental issues.

The San Francisco-based messaging platform plans to bar all paid political messages starting Friday, while addressing concerns expressed by activists for social causes.

"Ads that educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes are allowed," Twitter said in its new policy.

"However, they may not reference prohibited political advertisers or political content."

Twitter said the move was aimed at countering the spread of misinformation by politicians.

The political ban has drawn mixed reactions: some argue it puts pressure on Facebook to follow suit or take other steps to curb the spread of misinformation from politicians; others say a ban will be difficult to enforce.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/google-begins-rolling-out-rich-communication-services-to-do-more-with-messages-262225">Social media platforms</a> have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims which critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents.

Google on Wednesday updated how it handles political ads as online platforms remain under pressure to avoid being used to spread misleading information intended to influence voters.

Google on Wednesday updated how it handles political ads as online platforms remain under pressure to avoid being used to spread misleading information intended to influence voters. The internet company said its rules already ban any advertiser, including those with political messages, from lying in ads. But it is making its policy more clear and adding examples of how that prohibits content such as doctored or manipulated images or video. "It's against our policies for any advertiser to make a false claim, whether it's a claim about the price of a chair or a claim that you can vote by text message, that election day is postponed, or that a candidate has died," Google ads product management vice president Scott Spencer said in an online post. Examples of banned ad material included ads or links to information making demonstrably false claims that could undermine voter trust or participation in elections. "Of course, we recognize that robust political dialogue is an important part of democracy, and no one can sensibly adjudicate every political claim, counterclaim, and insinuation," Spencer said. "So we expect that the number of political ads on which we take action will be very limited - but we will continue to do so for clear violations." Google's main formats for political advertising are ads posted along with search query results, those shown at video viewing service YouTube, and display ads that appear on websites. Google will also limit the targeting of political ads to general categories such as age, gender, or postal code level location. "Political advertisers can, of course, continue to do contextual targeting, such as serving ads to people reading or watching a story about, say, the economy," Spencer said/. "This will align our approach to election ads with long-established practices in media such as TV, radio, and print, and result in election ads being more widely seen and available for public discussion." Google will begin enforcing the changes in Britain within a week and throughout the EU by the end of the year, then in the rest of the world starting January 6, according to Spencer. Watch: Google claims quantum supremacy Speech vs Truth Snap this week confirmed that it checks political ads at Snapchat to make sure they are not deceptive or misleading and thus enforce its ban on such material. The strategy seems to be a middle ground between Facebook's controversial tolerance of proven lies in political ads and Twitter's decision to ban them altogether. Snap policies prohibit political ads that are deceptive or misleading, with an in-house team reviewing such paid messages to make sure they don't break the rules. Twitter last week said its ban on political ads will exempt "cause-based" messages on topics related to social or environmental issues. The San Francisco-based messaging platform plans to bar all paid political messages starting Friday, while addressing concerns expressed by activists for social causes. "Ads that educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes are allowed," Twitter said in its new policy. "However, they may not reference prohibited political advertisers or political content." Twitter said the move was aimed at countering the spread of misinformation by politicians. The political ban has drawn mixed reactions: some argue it puts pressure on Facebook to follow suit or take other steps to curb the spread of misinformation from politicians; others say a ban will be difficult to enforce. Social media platforms have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims which critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents.

Google to make stricter regulatory policy for political ads to curb abuse

Google's Political Ad Policy: Company rules prevent the spread of misinformation

Google Tightens Policy on Political Ads

Snap on Monday confirmed that it checks political ads at <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/google-servers-cause-problems-for-youtube-snapchat-in-us-223726">Snapchat</a> to make sure they are not deceptive or misleading and thus enforce its ban on such material.

The strategy seems to be a middle ground between Facebook's controversial tolerance of proven lies in political ads and Twitter's decision to ban them altogether.

"We subject all advertising to review, including political advertising," Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel said in a story published by CNBC.

"And I think what we try to do is create a place for political ads on our platform, especially because we reach so many young people and first-time voters we want them to be able to engage with the political conversation, but we don't allow things like misinformation to appear in that advertising."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/snap-adds-games-to-snapchat-app-to-hold-on-to-young-users-208064">Snap policies</a> prohibit political ads that are deceptive or misleading, with an in-house team reviewing such paid messages to make sure they don't break the rules.

Twitter last week said its ban on political ads will exempt "caused-based" messages on topics related to social or environmental issues.

The San Francisco-based messaging platform plans to bar all paid political messages starting November 22, while addressing concerns expressed by activists for social causes.

"Ads that educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes are allowed," Twitter said in its new policy.

"However, they may not reference prohibited political advertisers or political content."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-tightens-bans-on-political-ads-and-causes-ahead-of-2020-us-election-262497">Twitter announced the political ad ban</a> on October 30, saying the move was aimed at countering the spread of misinformation by politicians.

The political ban has drawn mixed reactions: some argue it puts pressure on Facebook to follow suit or take other steps to curb the spread of misinformation from politicians; others say a ban will be difficult to enforce.

Social media platforms have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims which critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers.

Some analysts point out that the ban will not affect "organic" content or messages from politicians that are shared or retweeted by supporters, and that it could encourage the use of "bots" or paid users to amplify the tweets.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents.

Snap on Monday confirmed that it checks political ads at Snapchat to make sure they are not deceptive or misleading and thus enforce its ban on such material. The strategy seems to be a middle ground between Facebook's controversial tolerance of proven lies in political ads and Twitter's decision to ban them altogether.

Snap on Monday confirmed that it checks political ads at Snapchat to make sure they are not deceptive or misleading and thus enforce its ban on such material. The strategy seems to be a middle ground between Facebook's controversial tolerance of proven lies in political ads and Twitter's decision to ban them altogether. "We subject all advertising to review, including political advertising," Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel said in a story published by CNBC. "And I think what we try to do is create a place for political ads on our platform, especially because we reach so many young people and first-time voters we want them to be able to engage with the political conversation, but we don't allow things like misinformation to appear in that advertising." Snap policies prohibit political ads that are deceptive or misleading, with an in-house team reviewing such paid messages to make sure they don't break the rules. Twitter last week said its ban on political ads will exempt "caused-based" messages on topics related to social or environmental issues. The San Francisco-based messaging platform plans to bar all paid political messages starting November 22, while addressing concerns expressed by activists for social causes. "Ads that educate, raise awareness, and/or call for people to take action in connection with civic engagement, economic growth, environmental stewardship, or social equity causes are allowed," Twitter said in its new policy. "However, they may not reference prohibited political advertisers or political content." Twitter announced the political ad ban on October 30, saying the move was aimed at countering the spread of misinformation by politicians. The political ban has drawn mixed reactions: some argue it puts pressure on Facebook to follow suit or take other steps to curb the spread of misinformation from politicians; others say a ban will be difficult to enforce. Social media platforms have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims which critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers. Some analysts point out that the ban will not affect "organic" content or messages from politicians that are shared or retweeted by supporters, and that it could encourage the use of "bots" or paid users to amplify the tweets. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents.

Snapchat checks for misleading political advertisements to enforce ban

Twitter Inc on Friday said its political advertising ban will include references to political candidates or legislation, and it will not allow ads that advocate for a certain outcome on social and political causes.

Twitter Inc on Friday said its political advertising ban will include references to political candidates or legislation, and it will not allow ads that advocate for a certain outcome on social and political causes. The popular social media site, which first announced its political ads ban last month, had not previously provided details on the new policy. On Friday, it said it will define political content as anything that references "a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive, or judicial outcome." Twitter said it will use a combination of automated technology and human teams to enforce the new ad policies. The move comes as campaigns for the November 2020 presidential election heat up amid growing pressure on social media companies to stop accepting ads that spread false information and could sway elections. "We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought," Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said in announcing the ban. Rival Facebook Inc, saying it did not want to stifle political speech, has refused calls from some politicians and others to follow Twitter's lead, and said it would not vet political ads for misleading claims on its site. The ban is expected to take effect on November 22. Brad Parscale, campaign manager for US President Donald Trump's re-election bid, in a statement called the move, "yet another attempt to silence conservatives, since Twitter knows President Trump has the most sophisticated online program ever known." Bill Russo, deputy communications director for former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign, said in a statement that he appreciates Twitter will not allow "disproven smears" to appear in ads, but said social media companies had more work to do to ensure their sites are not rife with disinformation. "We look forward to seeing how the policy works in practice and intend to hold Twitter to its word," he said. Twitter will allow companies and advocacy groups to run ads that promote awareness and discussion about social causes, such as environmental protection. But they will not be allowed to push for a political or legislative change, especially if they are advocating for something that benefits their business, Del Harvey, vice president of trust and safety, said in a conference call on Friday. Under the new policy for example, Sierra Club could still promote their causes, but they would not be able to single out politicians they support or target those they would like to see defeated in elections, or lobby for political outcomes. Similarly, a group could run a gun violence awareness ad but could not call for a ban on assault weapons used in mass shootings as a ban implies legislation, Twitter said. Ads intended to promote awareness about a cause would be allowed to target users at the state level or higher, but not by zip-code. And those advertisers will not be able to target people based on their political leanings, Twitter said. Roy Temple, a partner at digital media consultancy GPS Impact who has worked with political campaigns, called the move "a gigantic cop-out" by Twitter's CEO that does not involve the loss of much revenue, and he questioned the difficulty of implementing the complicated policy. "I wouldn't want to be the Twitter employee who has to make these calls and defend them,” Temple said. "Universal healthcare is a cause, but is there a bill related to that? Are you talking about the bill or the cause? How is that determined?" Harvey said on Friday the new policies were not expected to change Twitter's fourth-quarter revenue forecast. Political ad spend for the 2018 U.S. midterm elections on Twitter was less than $3 million, the company reported. Critics have said the ban would punish lesser-known candidates taking on well-funded incumbents in local elections. If Facebook and Google - much larger players in digital advertising - were to adopt similar policies it would be "catastrophic" to down-ballot candidates who lack name recognition, said Eric Wilson, a political strategist based in Washington D.C. "If Facebook considers eliminating things like microtargeting, that's when we would panic," Wilson said. He said the platform has been the best vehicle for raising grassroots support, and a similar ban could hurt candidates that do not accept large donations from corporations and political action committees (PACs). Twitter said it sought to make its new rules as clear as possible. But other major tech companies, including Facebook and Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google, have had widely publicized struggles to moderate the vast amount of content uploaded to their sites. News publishers that meet certain criteria will continue to be able to run ads on Twitter that reference political content, but they cannot advocate for or against a political topic.

Twitter tightens bans on political ads and causes ahead of 2020 US election

Twitter said Wednesday it would stop accepting political advertising globally on its platform, responding to growing concerns over misinformation from politicians on social media.

Chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted that while internet advertising "is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions."

The move comes with Facebook under pressure to apply fact-checking to politicians running ads with debunked claims.

Dorsey said the new policy, details of which will be unveiled next month and enforced from November 22, would ban ads on political issues as well as from candidates.

"We considered stopping only candidate ads, but issue ads present a way to circumvent," he said.

"Additionally, it isn't fair for everyone but candidates to buy ads for issues they want to push. So we're stopping these too."

WION Edit: Date theft &amp; hacking: What are the solutions?

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Dorsey said the company took the action to head off potential problems from "machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/tesla-surges-twitter-slumps-amid-united-states-earnings-deluge-258002">Twitter</a>'s move comes in contrast to the Facebook policy that allows political speech and ads to run without fact-checking on the leading social network.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents.

Dorsey said he disagreed with Zuckerberg's assessment.

"We have witnessed many social movements reach a massive scale without any political advertising. I trust this will only grow," he added.

Twitter's chief financial officer Ned Segal said the move would have a little financial impact.

"Since we are getting questions: This decision was based on principle, not money," he said. "As context, we've disclosed that political ad spend for the 2018 US midterms was (less than) $3M."

The Trump conundrum

Social media platforms have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers.

"Twitter just walked away from hundreds of millions of dollars of potential revenue, a very dumb decision for their stockholders," Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said.

"Will Twitter also be stopping ads from biased liberal media outlets who will now run unchecked as they buy obvious political content meant to attack Republicans?"

Democrats have stepped up pressure on Facebook to remove political ads, and a group of employees has also called for stronger efforts by the social network to clamp down on "civic misinformation" from politicians.

Outside of the Trump campaign, the initial reaction to the Twitter announcement was positive.

"Until privately-owned social media platforms can develop and consistently enforce standards to prevent demonstrably inaccurate information in political advertising, this is the right move," said Michelle Amazeen, a Boston University professor specializing in political communication.

Nina Jankowicz, a Wilson Center fellow specializing in disinformation, also welcomed the decision.

"It's great that this move has been made globally and not just within the United States," she said.

"Too often these companies operate in a cloud of willful ignorance about the effects their products have outside our borders."

Jankowicz said the decision could level the playing field by preventing wealthier candidates and groups dominating the social conversation.

"Paid speech essentially quashes some groups' ability to speak out and be heard because they can't compete with the reach that their richer counterparts pay for," she said.

More cautiously, eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg said it remained unclear how much impact the change would have, given that political advertising is not a major part of Twitter's core business.

"And given the nature of the platform, people, publishers and politicians will still use Twitter to discuss politics organically, meaning that it won't fully solve the problem of misinformation," Enberg said.

Syracuse University professor Jennifer Grygiel also was skeptical, noting in a tweet: "Twitter has promised lots of things in the past that they haven't delivered on.&nbsp;

"We have to wait and see how effective the new political policy will be."

Twitter said Wednesday it would stop accepting political advertising globally on its platform, responding to growing concerns over misinformation from politicians on social media.

Twitter said Wednesday it would stop accepting political advertising globally on its platform, responding to growing concerns over misinformation from politicians on social media. Chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted that while internet advertising "is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions." The move comes with Facebook under pressure to apply fact-checking to politicians running ads with debunked claims. Dorsey said the new policy, details of which will be unveiled next month and enforced from November 22, would ban ads on political issues as well as from candidates. "We considered stopping only candidate ads, but issue ads present a way to circumvent," he said. "Additionally, it isn't fair for everyone but candidates to buy ads for issues they want to push. So we're stopping these too." WION Edit: Date theft & hacking: What are the solutions? × Dorsey said the company took the action to head off potential problems from "machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes." Twitter's move comes in contrast to the Facebook policy that allows political speech and ads to run without fact-checking on the leading social network. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said political advertising is not a major source of revenue but adds that he believes it is important to allow everyone a "voice," and that banning political ads would favour incumbents. Dorsey said he disagreed with Zuckerberg's assessment. "We have witnessed many social movements reach a massive scale without any political advertising. I trust this will only grow," he added. Twitter's chief financial officer Ned Segal said the move would have a little financial impact. "Since we are getting questions: This decision was based on principle, not money," he said. "As context, we've disclosed that political ad spend for the 2018 US midterms was (less than) $3M." The Trump conundrum Social media platforms have been challenged by President Donald Trump's campaign and its use of ads that contain claims critics say have been debunked by independent fact-checkers. "Twitter just walked away from hundreds of millions of dollars of potential revenue, a very dumb decision for their stockholders," Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said. "Will Twitter also be stopping ads from biased liberal media outlets who will now run unchecked as they buy obvious political content meant to attack Republicans?" Democrats have stepped up pressure on Facebook to remove political ads, and a group of employees has also called for stronger efforts by the social network to clamp down on "civic misinformation" from politicians. Outside of the Trump campaign, the initial reaction to the Twitter announcement was positive. "Until privately-owned social media platforms can develop and consistently enforce standards to prevent demonstrably inaccurate information in political advertising, this is the right move," said Michelle Amazeen, a Boston University professor specializing in political communication. Nina Jankowicz, a Wilson Center fellow specializing in disinformation, also welcomed the decision. "It's great that this move has been made globally and not just within the United States," she said. "Too often these companies operate in a cloud of willful ignorance about the effects their products have outside our borders." Jankowicz said the decision could level the playing field by preventing wealthier candidates and groups dominating the social conversation. "Paid speech essentially quashes some groups' ability to speak out and be heard because they can't compete with the reach that their richer counterparts pay for," she said. More cautiously, eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg said it remained unclear how much impact the change would have, given that political advertising is not a major part of Twitter's core business. "And given the nature of the platform, people, publishers and politicians will still use Twitter to discuss politics organically, meaning that it won't fully solve the problem of misinformation," Enberg said. Syracuse University professor Jennifer Grygiel also was skeptical, noting in a tweet: "Twitter has promised lots of things in the past that they haven't delivered on. "We have to wait and see how effective the new political policy will be."

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