--- title: "Breaking: Twitter CEO Announces Total Political Ads Ban" description: "In a surprise announcement by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey today, the platform has decided to ban all political ads across the globe starting November 22nd." date: "2019-10-30" modified: "2019-10-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/twitter-ceo-announces-total-political-ads-ban" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "advertisements" - "american politics" - "politics" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Breaking: Twitter CEO Announces Total Political Ads Ban ![In a surprise announcement by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey today, the platform has decided to ban all political ads across the globe starting November 22nd.]() *\Image: Twitter/Victor Tangermann\* ## On Notice In a surprise announcement Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the platform has decided to ban all political ads across the globe starting in November. "We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally," wrote Dorsey in a [tweet](). "We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought." It's a striking move, considering Twitter's [feeble and ineffective attempts]() in the past to crack down on politicians making false statements on its platform. "A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet," Dorsey explained. And "paying for reach removes that decision" which also "should not be compromised by money." ## Struggling With Politics Twitter isn't the only platform struggling with how to control political ads. Facebook has been in the news recently for allowing misleading political ads that often make demonstrably false claims — notably [about Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign]() — on its platform. Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg [argued]() earlier this month that dishonest political ads should stay on Facebook because they represent important "political discourse." Facebook even told [*The Verge*]() that it wouldn't even bother to fact-check claims made in those ads. But Twitter's new approach is a left turn, making the case that politicians shouldn't even be able to pay for ads in the first place. "Some might argue our actions today could favor incumbents, Dorsey concluded. "But we have witnessed many social movements reach massive scale without any political advertising. I trust this will only grow." **READ MORE:** [Twitter will ban all political advertising starting in November]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on political ads:** *[Facebook: Misleading Political Ads Are Important “Discourse”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()