New Delhi: Meta Platforms has declared that it will cease accepting political, electoral, and social issue advertisements on its platforms across the European Union beginning early October 2025. This action is before the new Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation of the EU comes into force on October 10. Meta cited legal uncertainty and operational concerns associated with the new law as the reason behind the decision.
The company claimed that the regulations would put advertisers and platforms under pressure to adhere to the rules without incurring severe penalties. The TTPA law mandates tech companies to reveal the identity of the person paying to advertise politically, the amount of money used, and the targeted election. Non-compliance may attract a fine that is equivalent to 6 percent of a company’s turnover in a year.
Echoes Google’s move
Meta has taken the same step as Google did in November last year. The tightening of the EU hold on digital advertising has been an issue of concern to both tech giants. The move to control disinformation and combat the foreign influence over elections in the bloc of 27 countries was aimed to address this issue.
Meta defends personalised Ads
Meta emphasised the necessity of personalised advertisements in blogs on campaigns to inform the voters on social issues. The company cautioned that the TTPA would restrict availability of pertinent political information and decrease the success of outreach activities. In the end, Meta claimed that the rules might damage European voters by limiting the availability of helpful information.