Twitter, also known as X, is re-opening the platform to US political ads, including messages promoting candidates for the upcoming US presidential election.
Twitter mentioned the change in a Tuesday blog post about expanding its safety and elections team to combat manipulation, such as fake accounts. “Building on our commitment to free expression, we are also going to allow political advertising,” the platform said.
The move comes four years after Twitter’s previous CEO, Jack Dorsey, banned political ads, saying “We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought.”
At the time, Dorsey was concerned that candidates and political groups could essentially game Twitter’s ad system to spread unchecked information to select users. The company also noted it only made $3 million from political ads during the 2018 midterm election—a relatively small sum for a platform trying to make billions.
Since then, things have drastically changed. Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, bought the platform to prioritize free speech. In addition, he’s been focused on making the company profitable, whether it be through massive layoffs, downsizing Twitter’s offices, or enticing users to pay for the verified Blue checkmark.
In January, Twitter signaled it was going to re-allow political ads, saying it had begun relaxing its restrictions for “cause-based ads.” Tuesday’s blog post now explicitly says the company will first allow paid-for political posts in the US, but under specific conditions set forth in its ad policy.
“This will include prohibiting the promotion of false or misleading content, including false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election, while seeking to preserve free and open political discourse,” Twitter wrote in the blog post.
The company says it will create a “global advertising transparency center” that promises to let anyone review the political posts being promoted on the platform. Buyers will also face a “robust screening process” to ensure only legitimate groups and campaigns can advertise on Twitter. Foreign nationals and non-US entities are barred from buying such ads.
To support its safety and elections team, Twitter also says it’s hiring more manpower.