X to Allow Paid Political Ads, Lifting Twitter’s Earlier Ban

Previously known as Twitter, X is reversing its ban on paid political ads. The ban had been imposed in 2019 under former CEO Jack Dorsey’s leadership.  

The company had referred to the banned content as “content that references a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive, or judicial outcome.” 

While X claims to enable free expression, critics see this as a move to boost ad revenue, as its U.S. ad sales have dropped significantly.

We believe that cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics. Today, we're relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US. We also plan to expand the political advertising we permit in the coming weeks.

— Safety (@Safety) January 3, 2023

X’s Moderation Measures

While political advertising will be allowed, X will have specific policies to prevent promoting false or misleading content to undermine public confidence in an election. For instance, the platform will not allow viral conspiracies such as #sharpiegate or #stopthesteal from past elections.

“As with all policy changes, we will first ensure that our approach to reviewing and approving content protects people on Twitter,” the exec said.

X emphasizes moderation efforts, including a screening process to ensure that only eligible groups and campaigns can advertise. Additionally, the company will create a global transparency center for advertising, allowing users to easily review promoted political posts on X. The platform will also apply the Community Notes feature for fact-checking all promoted posts, including paid political ads.