After Google, Meta will also stop disseminating political advertisements from October 10. According to the company, European legislation in this area is ‘inapplicable’.
Meta, the company causing Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, will no longer allow political parties to place advertisements on its platform from October 10. Classic publications will remain possible, but they can no longer be promoted as is currently the case.
The company thus acts in response to the TTPA, the transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulations. For political advertisements, this regulation requires platforms like Meta or Google to disclose the name of the advertising payer, the elections to which it is linked, the amount paid and the targeting techniques used. The regulations aims in particular to prevent manipulation and foreign interference.
Meta has already had an advertising library for several years where it is possible to find such information, but the company says that the new legislation generates ‘several operational challenges and legal uncertainties’.
Put pressure on
It is doubtful that this is the case. Meta is a company technically able to develop its own AI systems and follow your online activity in detail, even in incognito mode. This strongly contrasts with the inability to implement European legislation.
The suspension of political advertisements may be more a signal addressed to political leaders, who like to use Facebook for their communications, in the hope of weakening the law. In the past, Meta has often threatened to exclude or postpone services in Europe to mark its disagreement with legislation.
In the same vein, advertisements on social problems will no longer be authorized. It is not explained in detail what it means precisely. These are probably themes which are not purely political messages, but which are linked to it. Let us think here of unions creating a promotional message on unemployment. It remains to be seen what Meta definition will use in this case.
