Meta to ban political ads in EU due to bloc's 'unworkable' rules
The EU has a bolstered legal armoury to rein in Big Tech, against which Meta has hit out with the support of the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.
"This is a difficult decision — one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation," the company said.
Political, electoral and social issue advertising will no longer be allowed from October in the bloc, it said, because of "unworkable requirements" under the new rules.
"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 added.
The EU says its political advertising rules seek to increase transparency in online advertising after Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to light in 2018.
Cambridge Analytica was a consulting firm that was found to have improperly accessed personal data from millions of Facebook users for targeted political advertising, particularly during the 2016 US election and Brexit referendum.
The change is set to impact Meta's flagship platforms Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp — which is largely ad-free but announced in June it would be introducing new advertising features in some parts of the app.
Meta said it was "not the only company to have been forced into this position".
Google last year announced it would also prevent political advertising in the EU from October 2025 because of the "significant new operational challenges and legal uncertainties".
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been highly critical of European rules, accusing Brussels in January of "censorship" and equating EU fines against the company to tariffs.
The latest row between Meta and the EU has been over the firm's "pay or consent" system.
The EU imposed a 200-million-euro ($235-million) fine in April after concluding Meta violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram.
The company faces additional daily penalties if it does not make changes, with Brussels yet to decide whether Meta has modified the platforms enough to avoid more fines.
Facebook and Instagram also face investigations under the EU's mammoth content moderation law known as the Digital Services Act.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
L'Orient-Le Jour
36 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Trump's MAGA base defies conservative pro-Israel doctrine
Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in U.S. Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump's populist base — where invocations of the "special relationship" are falling on deaf ears. Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump's "MAGA" movement over whether U.S. involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president's "America First" platform. Trump's first significant break with Israel came on Monday, when he acknowledged that "real starvation" is happening in Gaza and vowed to set up food centers in the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by Israel's war with Hamas. Asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said: "Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry." It was a notable retort and prompted commentators to speculate that unwavering U.S. support for Israel might end up as just another conservative sacred cow slayed by MAGA. Vice President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing "heartbreaking" images of "little kids who are clearly starving to death" and demanding that Israel let in more aid. Political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift might in part be emotional — with TV images of starving children resonating more profoundly than the aftermath of air strikes. "Perhaps it is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war," the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP. Israel has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the isolationist MAGA movement under Trump has challenged the ideological foundations of the "special relationship." MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in particular the "left behind" working class that makes up Trump's base. Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to "re-orient its relationship with Israel" from a special relationship "to an equal strategic partnership." Stronger expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts — especially after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. But there is a new urgency in the debate in MAGA circles following dire warnings from leading NGOs and the U.N. World Food Program's finding that a third of Gaza's population — of about two million — go for days without eating. One sign of the new thinking came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pushed to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel's rocket defense system. Greene this week went further than any Republican lawmaker has previously in using the word "genocide" to describe Israel's conduct and slamming the "starvation of innocent people and children in Gaza." While Greene's credibility has been undermined by an extensive record of conspiratorial social media posts, there is no denying that she knows what makes the MAGA crowd tick. A new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel's actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68 percent in 2023 to 52 percent. Youth seems to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April, when food shortages had yet to become a humanitarian catastrophe. While Republicans over age 50 haven't changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since 2022, the survey showed that the US ally's unfavorability among younger adults has climbed from 35 percent to 50 percent. "It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support," former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Politico, adding that Trump's rebuke would solidify his supporters' enmity. Democratic strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as "one of those rare moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock." "You're seeing people across the political spectrum who just can't stomach it anymore," he told AFP.
L'Orient-Le Jour
37 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Marjorie Taylor Greene, far-right US congresswoman, calls Israeli offensive a 'genocide'
BEIRUT — Far-right American congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of Donald Trump, denounced the catastrophic situation in Gaza in a social media post, which she called a "genocide." "It is completely true to say that the events of Oct. 7 in Israel were horrific and that all hostages must be freed, but the same goes for the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and famine ravaging Gaza," she posted on her X account. With these statements on her X account, the staunchly pro-Trump congresswoman became the first Republican member of Congress to use the term "genocide" to describe Israel's actions in the Palestinian territory. "A Jewish American representative who calls for continuing to starve innocents and children is shameful. His appalling statement will only fuel antisemitism," Greene said, responding to comments from Congressman Randy Fine, who was elected earlier this year with the support of the American president and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Fine had called the ongoing famine in Gaza "Muslim terrorist propaganda." Fine had posted on social media earlier this week: "Release the hostages (...) Until then, let them [the Palestinians, ed.] starve." The Georgia lawmaker has long prided herself on defending the "America First" policy championed by Donald Trump, which has isolationist leanings. In mid-July, she introduced a bill aimed at cutting $500 million in U.S. funding for Israel's missile defense system. "Israel is a nuclear-armed country, quite capable of defending itself," she declared at the time. Since the founding of the State of Israel, support from Washington has generally had bipartisan consensus in Congress, but especially on the right. This stance is explained in part by the influence of certain evangelical Christian movements that see the Jewish state as a fulfillment of biblical prophecies. For his part, Democratic congressman John Garamendi also declared last week that "it is impossible to see the famine caused by (...) Israel and not recognize that genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people." U.N. agencies on Tuesday called to "flood" the Gaza Strip with food aid to prevent "widespread famine," as the number of Palestinians killed during the Israeli military offensive in Gaza surpasses 60,000, according to the enclave's health ministry.
LBCI
7 hours ago
- LBCI
Malta to recognize Palestinian state in September
Malta will declare recognition of a Palestinian state during the general assembly of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Tuesday evening. Abela made the announcement hours after a similar declaration by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and days after France also announced its recognition plans. "Our position reflects our commitment to efforts for a lasting peace in the Middle East," Abela said in a Facebook post. The Malta government had been under increasing pressure from within its ranks to recognize a Palestinian state and the center-right Opposition in mid-July also called for immediate recognition. The Mediterranean EU island has a history of support for Palestinian causes and has backed efforts for a two-state solution.
