Google to Lift Political Ad Ban on Thursday -- Update

By Emily Glazer 

Alphabet Inc.'s Google told advertisers it is planning to lift its ban on political ads on Thursday after a blackout of more than a month because of concerns over misinformation, according to an email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Google told advertisers Wednesday it will lift its so-called sensitive event policy and allow ads that mention a current state or federal officeholder or candidate, political party or ballot measure, as early voting in the Georgia Senate runoffs begins later this month. The Georgia runoffs on Jan. 5 will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate when President-elect Joe Biden begins his administration.

"While we no longer consider the postelection period to be a sensitive event, we will still rigorously enforce our ads policies, which strictly prohibit demonstrably false information that could significantly undermine trust in elections or the democratic process, among other forms of abuse," Google said in the email.

Google, along with Facebook Inc., are the biggest digital ad platforms in political advertising. Political campaigns and groups spent tens of millions of dollars advertising on Google, which owns YouTube, and on Facebook, which also owns Instagram, leading up to the general election to influence voters and get out the vote. But both platforms decided to limit political ads before and after the general election in an effort to tamp down the spread of misinformation

The Journal reported in mid-November that Google representatives told some advertisers it was unlikely to lift its ban in November or December. Facebook told advertisers at the time it would extend its political ad ban "another month" and update advertisers when it would lift, which has yet to happen. Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

YouTube on Wednesday said it would start removing content that misleads people about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election since the so-called "Safe Harbor" deadline has passed -- a formal step toward confirming Mr. Biden's win -- and enough states certified their election results, according to a blog post. For instance, YouTube said it would remove videos "claiming that a presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors."

YouTube said it would ramp up enforcement in the coming weeks.

"While problematic misinformation represents a fraction of 1% of what's watched on YouTube in the U.S., we know we can bring that number down even more," YouTube wrote Wednesday. "And some videos, while not recommended prominently on YouTube, continue to get high views, sometimes coming from other sites. We're continuing to consider this and other new challenges as we make ongoing improvements."

Write to Emily Glazer at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 09, 2020 12:12 ET (17:12 GMT)

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