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Twitter says all advertisements on politics will be banned from the platform beginning next month.
This was announced by the company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey via his Twitter handle on Wednesday.
“We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. A 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,” Dorsey wrote.
The ban will take effect on November 22nd across the globe, according to The Guardian newspaper.
“..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,” Dorsey noted.
He further indicated that online political campaigns have caused unprecedented risks such as misleading information and deep fakes.
“…it‘s not credible for us to say: “We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, but if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well…they can say whatever they want!” he added.
Dorsey called for enhanced regulation of political adverts, adding that regulators must think beyond the present day to ensure a level playing field.