Meta follows Google in banning EU political ads

Meta has announced it will cease all political, electoral, and social issue advertising in the European Union, citing the upcoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation. The TTPA, effective from October 2024, introduces stringent requirements for political ads, including mandatory disclosure of advertiser identity, referendum details, expenditure, and targeting methods. It also requires explicit consent from users to receive such ads, which is expected to significantly limit their reach.

Meta contends that the TTPA presents excessive compliance obligations and substantial legal uncertainty, making it impractical to continue offering political advertising services in the EU. The company argues that adapting its ad platform to the regulation would either render its services ineffective for advertisers and users or leave its compliance status uncertain. As a result, Meta has opted to withdraw political, electoral, and social issue ads entirely from its EU platforms.

This decision follows a similar move by Google, which also attributed its withdrawal to the operational challenges and legal ambiguities introduced by the TTPA. Both companies have publicly criticized the EU for establishing regulations that, in their view, reduce market choice and competition by effectively removing popular services.

Despite the advertising ban, Meta confirmed that organic political content will remain permitted on its platforms. Politicians and users in the EU will still be able to discuss and share political content organically, but amplification through paid advertising will no longer be possible under the new regulatory framework.