By Kelvin Chan
LONDON (AP) – Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Friday it will suspend all political ads in the European Union by October, denounced legal uncertainty over new rules designed to increase transparency in the campaign.
The social media giant said in a blog post that it will not allow advertising on political, election and social issues on platforms that also include threads from early October.
The company said it is making the decision with 27 EU “unfeasible” transparency and targeting political advertising regulations.
The rules introduce “critical operational challenges and legal uncertainties,” Meta said.
It is not the first major high-tech company to do this. In an announcement last year, citing similar reasons, Google said it would halt its services for political ads for EU users before the rules take effect.
Under regulations that come into effect on October 10th, platforms will need to label political ads and disclose who paid, which campaign, referendum, or whether they are connected. Ads must be stored in a database and can only be targeted to users under strict conditions.
The rules introduced “critical additional obligations to processes and systems that create unacceptable levels of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU.”
Violations can be hit with fines worth up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue.
The rules are part of Brussels’ widespread efforts to counter foreign influence and manipulation in elections, and dovetail with other regulations in the block designed to protect citizen privacy and take the platform more responsible for the online safety of internet users. However, these moves clash with President Donald Trump’s administration, who has been overwhelmed by the creation of digital rules for the EU.
Mehta said the decision would not affect users who want to discuss politics on the platform or prevent politicians, candidates and executive holders from “organically sharing political content.”
“They can’t amplify this through paid advertising,” it said.
Original issue: July 25th, 2025, 6:27pm EDT
