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Canada News.Net
an hour ago
- Business
- Canada News.Net
Big Tech pushback grows as EU tightens grip on online politics
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Meta Platforms has announced it will stop running political, electoral, and social issue advertisements on its platforms across the European Union starting in early October 2025. The tech giant cited "legal uncertainties" surrounding new EU regulations as the reason for its decision, marking a significant shift in how political content will be managed on platforms like Facebook and Instagram during upcoming European elections. The move aligns with a similar step taken by Google's parent company, Alphabet, in November last year, highlighting growing resistance among major U.S. tech firms to tighter EU regulation. Both companies are responding to the European Union's new Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, set to take effect on October 10, 2025. The regulation, designed to curb disinformation and foreign meddling in elections, introduces strict requirements for digital platforms. Under the new law, political ads must be clearly labeled, identify the sponsors, disclose spending, and specify which elections they are targeting. Companies that fail to comply face penalties of up to 6% of their annual global revenue. In a blog post, Meta acknowledged that the decision to halt political advertising in the EU was difficult but necessary. "This is a difficult decision—one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties," the company wrote. Meta also warned that the new rules could have negative consequences for European citizens. "We believe that personalized ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged in campaigns to inform voters about important social issues," Meta said. "Regulations like the TTPA significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting the effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information." The European Commission has resisted such arguments, asserting that greater transparency is essential to protecting democratic institutions. The EU is already investigating Meta's platforms—Facebook and Instagram—for alleged failures to combat disinformation and misleading advertising ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections. That investigation falls under the broader Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates that large online platforms take stronger action against harmful and illegal content or face severe penalties, including fines of up to 6% of global turnover. Meta is not alone in facing scrutiny. ByteDance's TikTok is also under investigation for its handling of election-related misinformation, particularly during Romania's presidential elections last November. The combined pressure from the TTPA and DSA reflects the EU's broader strategy to assert greater control over digital platforms and hold tech companies accountable for content shared on their networks, especially content related to democratic processes. As the October 10 deadline approaches, Meta's decision to withdraw from political and social issue advertising in the EU raises concerns among campaigners and civil society groups that rely on digital outreach to inform voters and shape public debate. It also sets the stage for a more regulated and, potentially, more opaque digital election landscape in Europe.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Zuckerberg's Meta to ban political ads in EU
Tech giant said European users would still be able to post about politics. Photo: File Meta on Friday said it will be forced to ban political advertising on its platforms in the European Union from October because of rules the Facebook and Instagram owner called "unworkable". The EU has a bolstered legal armoury to rein in Big Tech, against which Meta has hit out — with the support of US President Donald Trump's administration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been highly critical of European rules, accusing Brussels in January of "censorship," while this week the US State Department denounced the EU's "Orwellian" regulation of social media. Against this uneasy backdrop, and with EU-US trade tensions sky-high, Meta announced that political, electoral and social issue advertising will no longer be allowed from October in the bloc because of "unworkable requirements" under new rules. "This is a difficult decision — one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation," it said. "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 tech giant stressed that its European users would still be able to post and debate about politics. 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 that 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 and Brussels have locked horns on a series of issues — most recently over the firm's "pay or consent" system regarding user data. The EU slapped a EUR200 million (USD235 million) fine in April after concluding Meta violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg has previously equated EU fines against the company to tariffs. Facebook and Instagram also face investigations under the EU's mammoth content moderation law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Kuwait Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Kuwait Times
Meta to ban political ads in EU due to bloc's ‘unworkable' rules
BRUSSELS: Meta on Friday said it will be forced to ban political advertising on its platforms in the European Union from October because of rules the Facebook and Instagram owner called 'unworkable'. The EU has a bolstered legal armory to rein in Big Tech, against which Meta has hit out - with the support of US President Donald Trump's administration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been highly critical of European rules, accusing Brussels in January of 'censorship' while this week the US State Department denounced the EU's 'Orwellian' regulation of social media. Against this uneasy backdrop, and with EU-US trade tensions sky-high, Meta announced that political, electoral and social issue advertising will no longer be allowed from October in the bloc because of 'unworkable requirements' under new rules. 'This is a difficult decision - one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation,' it said. '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 tech giant stressed that its European users would still be able to post and debate about politics. 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 and Brussels have locked horns on a series of issues - most recently over the firm's 'pay or consent' system regarding user data. The EU slapped a 200-million-euro ($235-million) fine in April after concluding Meta violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg has previously equated EU fines against the company to tariffs. Facebook and Instagram also face investigations under the EU's mammoth content moderation law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA). Meta's announcement comes as US officials ramp up their attacks on the DSA. The State Department took aim at the DSA on Tuesday as it accused European countries of convicting thousands of people 'for the crime of criticizing their own governments,' without elaborating on the allegation. And the judiciary committee of the US House of Representatives on Friday described the EU law as a 'foreign censorship threat' that forces 'platforms to change content moderation policies that apply in the United States'. 'On paper, the DSA is bad. In practice, it is even worse,' the Republican-majority committee said in an interim report. Staunch Trump ally Jim Jordan, committee chair, will meet the EU's digital chief, Henna Virkkunen, in Brussels on Monday. Jordan will be joined by other US Congress members in a bipartisan delegation, EU digital spokesman Thomas Regnier said. The European Commission rejected the censorship claims. 'Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the EU. And it is at the heart of our legislation, including the DSA,' Regnier said.- AFP
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Meta to halt political advertising in EU from October, blames EU rules
Meta Platforms will end political, election and social issue advertising on its platform in the EU in early October, blaming legal uncertainties due to new EU rules on political advertising, the U.S. social media company said on Friday. Meta's announcement echoed Alphabet unit Google's decision announced last November, underscoring Big Tech's pushback against EU rules aimed at reining in their power and making sure that they are more accountable and transparent. The European Union legislation, called the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation and which will apply from October 10, was triggered by concerns about disinformation and foreign interference in elections across the 27-country bloc. The law requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much, as well as which elections are being targeted, or risk fines up to 6% of their annual turnover. 'From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU,' Meta said in a blog post. 'This is a difficult decision – one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties,' it said. Meta said the EU rules would ultimately hurt Europeans. 'We believe that personalised ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged on campaigns to inform voters about important social issues that shape public discourse,' it said. 'Regulations, like the TTPA, significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information.' Meta's Facebook and Instagram are currently being investigated by the European Commission over their suspected failure to tackle disinformation and deceptive advertising in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections. The EU probe is under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big Tech to do more to counter illegal and harmful content on their platforms or risk fines of as much as 6% of their global annual turnover. ByteDance's TikTok is also in the EU crosshairs over its suspected failure to tackle election interference, notably in the Romanian presidential vote last November.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Meta to halt political advertising in EU from October, blames EU rules
Meta Platforms will end political, electoral, social issue advertising on its platform in the European Union in early October because of the legal uncertainties due to EU rules targeting political advertising, the U.S. social media company said on Friday. Meta's announcement echoed Alphabet unit Google's decision announced last November, underscoring Big Tech's pushback against EU rules aimed at reining in their power and making sure that they are more accountable and transparent. The European Union legislation, called the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation and which will apply from Oct. 10, was triggered by concerns about disinformation and foreign interference in elections across the 27-country bloc. The EU law requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much as well as which elections are being targeted or risk fines up to 6% of their annual turnover. "From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU," Meta said in a blog post. "This is a difficult decision - one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties," it said. Meta said TTPA obligations create what it said is an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU. It said the EU rules will ultimately hurt Europeans. "We believe that personalised ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged on campaigns to inform voters about important social issues that shape public discourse," Meta said. "Regulations, like the TTPA, significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information," the company added.
