Meta to cease political ads in the EU due to incoming TTPA regulation

Meta (NASDAQ:META) said Friday it will stop showing political, electoral, and social issue advertisements across its platforms in the European Union starting in October this year.

The move by the social media and tech giant comes ahead of the bloc’s “Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising” (TTPA) regulation, which introduces “unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties,” according to the company.

Meta believes TTPA will restrict how advertisers reach their audiences, and people will also see less relevant content.

“Unfortunately, the TTPA introduces significant, additional obligations to our processes and systems that create an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU,” Meta said in its blog post.

“For example, the TTPA places extensive restrictions on ad targeting and delivery, which would restrict how political and social issue advertisers can reach their audiences and lead to people seeing less relevant ads on our platforms. It is yet another threat to the principles of personalized advertising, ignoring the benefits to advertisers and the people they want to reach,” they added.

The introduction of TTPA won’t prevent people or candidates in the EU from posting about and debating politics on the company’s platforms, Meta clarified.