Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has announced its decision to halt political ad sales and displays in the European Union (EU) starting in October. This action is in response to the upcoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) legislation within the bloc.
The company expressed concerns about the complexity of the law and its impact on personalized advertising. The TTPA requires extensive transparency for political ads, including clear labeling, sponsor disclosure, and consent for data usage.
The TTPA introduces additional obligations that Meta believes will create operational challenges and legal uncertainties for advertisers and platforms operating within the EU. Meta stated in a blog post that the law poses an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty.
Threat to Personalized Advertising
Meta views the EU’s rules under the TTPA as a threat to the principles of personalized advertising. The extensive restrictions on ad targeting and delivery will limit how political and social issue advertisers can engage with their audiences. Meta believes this will result in users seeing less relevant advertisements on its platforms.
The company engaged extensively with policymakers to address its concerns but ultimately faced a difficult choice. Either alter its services to offer an advertising product that may not work for advertisers or users without a guarantee of compliance, or stop allowing political, electoral, and social issue ads in the EU.
Transparency Requirements
The TTPA, adopted by the European Commission in 2024, mandates comprehensive transparency for political ads. Companies selling political ads must clearly label them, disclose the sponsor, relevant election or referendum, ad costs, and targeting mechanisms used. The law stipulates that data collected for political ads must only be used with explicit consent and prohibits the use of sensitive personal data for profiling, such as racial or ethnic origin and political opinions.
Another advertising giant, Google, has also decided to cease selling political ads in the EU by October, citing the operational challenges and legal uncertainty presented by the new legislation.
