Meta executives are discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe over fears that Facebook and Instagram will be unable to comply with future European rules targeting online campaigns, Reuters reported, citing the Financial Times.

Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is concerned that the definition of political advertising under the plan would be so broad that it would be easier to opt out of all paid political campaigns on the company’s sites.

Regulators in Brussels are drafting new laws that will come into effect next year. In particular, the new laws will force major companies to disclose more information about the political groups behind online campaigns and the users they target.

Meta says the move is being considered by management because users are largely uninterested in this type of content and revenue from political ads is low. According to research group Insider Intelligence, the company took in just under $800 million from political advertising in 2019-2020, less than 1 percent of total ad revenue for that period.

Zuckerberg doesn’t want to vet political ads

Zuckerberg refused to vet political ads, arguing that private companies should not be the “arbiter of truth.” However, Meta has temporarily suspended political advertising in the run-up to and during important elections, such as the 2020 presidential election. USA.

Under EU proposals, Facebook and Google would be forced to be more transparent about how they serve political ads, such as showing how much the ad costs, who paid for it and how many people viewed the content.

The European Commission, European Parliament and EU member states must agree on the final definition of political advertising under the new regulation by June 5. (Source: Dreamstime.com)