Meta bans political ads past US election day

Meta says new political ads will be banned on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, after Election Day in the US. 

The restriction period’s original end date was Wednesday November 6, at midnight Pacific Time, but Meta announced on itswebsite that it would be extended the ban “until later this week”. 

Since 2020, Meta platforms have been implementing a restriction period for ads about social issues, politics or elections in the US for the week leading up to election day.

The extended restriction is because “there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads,” Meta said.  

Ads that ran prior to midnight on October 29, that cleared an ad review and got at least one expression will still be allowed to continue on the platform while the restriction is in effect, but “most edits will be prohibited,” the social media giant said.

On those ads, the owners will be able to schedule, budget and make bidding-related changes to their political ads.

The restriction period stops advertisers from removing “paid for” disclaimers on their ads, editing the target audience of their ads, and duplicating their most successful paid ads. 

Google also has apause on US election-related advertisements until “the last polls close on election day,” but does not include information campaigns run by state or federal government bodies who are in charge of the election process.