Twitter details plan to ban political ads

With the battle for the White House now less than a year away, Twitter on Friday detailed how it plans to institute a ban on political ads, as its larger rival Facebook has taken the opposite route.

Twitter defined what constitutes as a political ad as anything that references "a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive, or judicial outcome."

When the ban was first announced last month CEO Jack Dorsey said, "political message reach should be earned, not bought."

Politicians won't be able to run ads on Twitter starting November 22, but companies and advocacy groups will. Ads that promote awareness and discussion about social causes, such as environmental protection, will be allowed as long as the ad doesn't advocate for a specific political or legislative change on the issue.

For example, gun rights advocates can post an ad but can't target a politician with an opposing view or endorse a supporting politician.

One other change: so-called issue advertisers can not target ads by zip code or political leanings.

Twitter says it is seeking to make the rules as clear as possible.

On the flip side, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come under fire for taking a very public stance that he won't block political ads or even vet them for lies. He's said it's about promoting free speech and not ad dollars.

As for Twitter's ban, President Trump's re-election campaign has already come out against it, calling it a "very dumb decision."