Report from the New York Times
In Brief – Meta will stop allowing political, electoral or social issue ads on its digital platforms in Europe starting in October due to the requirements of the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation. The goal of the TTPA is to “support open and fair political debate” by attempting to cut down on manipulation of information, foreign election interference and the misuse of users’ personal data, according to EU regulators. The new regulations limit the targeting of ads with content that is political or involves social issues by requiring that users give “explicit and separate consent” for the use of their data in relation to the political ad in question, while various kinds of personal information, including racial or ethnic data, cannot be used at all in targeting. In announcing their decision to end the entire category of ads, the company said the TTPA would create “an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU,” and was “another threat to the principles of personalized advertising” that will “lead to people seeing less relevant ads” on its apps. The company added that users, including politicians and political parties, will still be able to post and engage in political debate on its platforms, and that Google announced a similar ads decision last November.
Context – Conservative activists have argued for years that they are not treated fairly on social media platforms. Nobody has been more vocal than President Trump. And as conservative activists increasingly network across borders, such charges are spreading globally. The EU’s Digital Services Act investigation of X raises those issues directly. Even after the breakup with Elon Musk, the issue of free speech that roils the European establishment resonates in the Trump Administration. Meta has seemed intent on joining the fray, possibly to build goodwill so that President Trump will fight for the company against the European Commission’s use of the Digital Markets Act to require Meta, and at this point only Meta, to offer users a free version of their platforms that includes ads, but only ineffective non-targeted ads that aren’t valuable to advertisers, consumers, or the platform.