Meta Weighs Political Ad Ban In Wake Of Tougher EU Regulations

Meta Platforms, Inc META is weighing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe.
The ban follows concerns over its social networking platforms like Facebook and Instagram failing to comply with forthcoming EU regulations that target online campaigning, Financial Times reports.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is concerned that the definition of political ads under the plan will be so broad that it will be easier to refuse all paid-for political campaigns on the company’s sites.
Also, users were largely uninterested in such content, and revenues generated from political ads are small compared with its broader business.
Between 2019 and 2020, Meta earned under $800 million in revenue from political advertising in the U.S., according to Insider Intelligence, less than 1% of its total advertising revenue over the period.
In the wake of the U.S. 2016 election, social media platforms faced flak for failing to clamp down on misinformation and conspiracies.
Zuckerberg has refused to fact-check political advertising.
Under the EU proposals, platforms like Facebook and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google will have to raise transparency for carrying political advertising, like showing how much ads cost, who paid them, and how many people viewed the content.
One EU official aware of Meta’s internal discussions claimed that Meta’s move aimed to put pressure on the EU to narrow its definition of political advertising.
Price Action: META shares traded higher by 0.14% at $205.63 premarket on the last check Friday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Comments

Popular Channels

Tools & Features

Partners & Contributors

About Benzinga