The social media network X, previously referred to as Twitter, has changed its mind about political advertising and will now welcome it back onto the site.
The timing of this decision is significant since it falls right at the beginning of the campaign season for the presidential election in the United States in the year 2024. Despite the fact that it enables political advertisements, X’s first aim is still to prevent the dissemination of misleading information.
A recent blog post provided the platform with an opportunity to elaborate on its plan for navigating political dialogue in the time leading up to the election. It is anticipated that the shift will present incumbents in politics with a novel approach to communicating with voters online, while at the same time increasing X’s profits, which have been on the wane.
The change comes after X eased some of the limits that had been placed on cause-based advertising earlier. It would appear that this change in policy now makes it possible for political groupings and election campaigns to distribute advertisements supporting or opposing individual candidates.
This is in stark contrast to the decision that Twitter made in 2019 to prohibit political advertisements, a limitation that remained in place all the way until the election for president of the United States in 2020.
Even though X’s leadership, led by Elon Musk, is a staunch supporter of the concept of free expression, there are currently issues raised about the platform’s capability of successfully policing the content that is shared on it.
The company intends to apply stringent screening measures, as specified in the company’s plan, to ensure that only approved entities can advertise. In addition, X is increasing the size of its security and election teams in order to effectively monitor emerging issues, such as the possibility of dangers associated with AI-generated graphics.
