Tech giant Google has announced that it will temporarily stop running political ads on its platforms following Election Day in the US.
Google sent an email to advertisers on Friday saying they will be prohibited from running political ads on its platforms that relate to the US election after Election Day.
The email read: "This policy will be broadly scoped across ads running through Google Ads, DV360, YouTube, and AdX Authorized Buyer and is intended to block all ads related to the election."
Google's political ads restriction
A spokesperson for the company said the restriction could be implemented for a week or more. The announcement comes as tech companies face questions about their preparedness for the upcoming election.
The restriction will not only be applied to ads about the presidential election but will also cover state and local polls.
Google will implement the election ads ban through its "sensitive event" policy, which it previously used for unpredictable or chaotic events, such as natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic.
In the email. the firm said it will activate the policy once polls close.
Google said: "While this policy is in place, advertisers will not be able to run ads referencing candidates, the election, or its outcome, given that an unprecedented amount of votes will be counted after election day this year."
The restriction will apply to all non-political advertisers, as well as those who have undergone the company's political verification process, including candidates and campaigns themselves.
Google spokesperson Charlotte Smith explained: "Given the likelihood of delayed election results this year, when polls close on November 3, we will pause ads referencing the 2020 election, the candidates, or its outcome."
"This is a temporary measure, and we'll notify advertisers when this policy is lifted," Smith added.
Facebook's ads policy
Google's decision veers away from Facebook's previous announcement on political ads.
Earlier this month, Facebook said it will not accept any new political ads in the seven days prior to the US election on November 3.
While it won’t accept new political ads during this period prior to the election, Facebook will still allow existing ads to continue to be promoted and targeted at different users. The decision was announced in a post by Facebook chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg.
According to Zuckerberg, he was “worried” about divisions in the country potentially leading to civil unrest. He also mentioned that the platform will also label posts from candidates attempting to declare victory prior to the final vote count.
Facebook also vowed to remove videos of US President Donald Trump encouraging voters in North Carolina to vote twice, which is illegal.
In a statement, the firm said that any videos of Trump’s comments without contextualizing information would be removed from the platform. It said: “This video violates our policies prohibiting voter fraud and we will remove it unless it is shared to correct the record.”
Zuckerberg also wrote in the post: “This election is not going to be business as usual. With our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country.”
