Twitter to Allow Political Advertising

Facts

• After Twitter banned political ads in 2019 under former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey's belief that such messages should be "earned" and not "bought," the company's new owner, Elon Musk, announced on Tuesday that it would be relaxing such policies to boost revenue.
• The new policy will include an overturning of the previous ban on cause-based ads — ads that encourage action related to issues such as the environment or social equality — in the US, though the company provided no details beyond saying the ads should be geo-restricted.
• After opening the platform to cause-based ads, which were previously restricted from microtargeting specific groups, the company said it would later expand to allow other forms of political advertising to "align [its] advertising policy with that of TV and other media outlets."
• Advertising policy has become a heated topic since Musk's $44B takeover of the platform, with about 89% of its $5.1B revenue in 2021 coming from ads. But, as of Dec. 18, roughly 70% of its top 100 spenders stopped purchasing ads.
• The new policy could open up a new source of income as the 2024 election approaches, on top of its new $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription service.
• Political ads are a multi-billion-dollar business in the US, with nationwide digital advertising for political campaigns in 2022 exceeding $3B and over $1.5B spent on the 2020 presidential race alone.

Sources: Independent, Tech Crunch, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Daily Wire, and Business Insider.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Mashable. Musk's practice of reckless trial and error is why the company is running dry financially. After firing the majority of its staff and reinstating far-right conspiracy theorists, advertisers were rightfully scared away from the platform. Instead of acknowledging these poor business decisions, Musk has instead decided to retain his erroneous policies as he continues his pursuit of staying afloat.
• Right narrative, as provided by Washington Examiner. Beyond simply growing its revenue, this policy change will give conservatives even more of a voice on social media. After already opening up previously-censored free thought surrounding COVID, disenfranchised political candidates and advocates will now be able to amplify their messages at a time when corporate-government censorship is being brought to light.