Google supports democratic elections around the world by giving voters access to high-quality, trusted information, protecting our platform from abuse, and providing campaigns with best-in-class security tools and training. .
We work closely with governments, advertisers and civil society organizations to support responsible political advertising across our platforms. In recent years, we have invested in an industry-leading election advertising program that supports user safety and promotes transparency.
For example, starting in 2019, all advertisers wishing to run election ads in the EU will be required to meet enhanced transparency requirements, including identity verification and in-ad disclosures that clearly show who is paying for each ad. I am. It also established disclosure requirements regarding the use of synthetic or digitally altered content in election ads, maintained a dedicated political advertising transparency report, and limited the ways advertisers can target election ads. As a result, political advertising on our services is more transparent than comparable television, newspaper, or radio advertising.
The European Union’s upcoming Political Advertising Transparency and Targeting Regulation (TTPA) unfortunately introduces significant new operational challenges and legal uncertainties for political advertisers and platforms. For example, the TTPA defines political advertising so broadly that it may cover advertising related to a very wide range of issues that are difficult to identify with certainty at scale. There is also a lack of reliable local election data that can consistently and accurately identify all advertising related to local, regional or national elections in any of the 27 EU member states. Additionally, key technical guidance may not be finalized until several months before the regulation takes effect.
As a result, Google will stop serving political ads in the EU before the TTPA takes effect in October 2025. Additionally, paid political promotion will no longer be allowed on YouTube in the EU if it is considered political advertising under the TTPA.
Throughout the legislative process, we shared concerns about the potential impact of the TTPA and the challenges posed by some of its requirements, but this regulation ultimately could not provide sufficient clarity and specificity. Other jurisdictions, including France, Canada, and Brazil, faced similar difficult decisions when ending political advertising, but these jurisdictions were unable to immediately comply with the specific implementation required by regulations. We will share further information on the exact timing of the policy change in 2025 and will continue to evaluate this decision.
We regret having to take this action because we know political advertising is a valuable resource for voters to find information and for candidates to share their messages. I think so. Ahead of elections, people need access to useful, relevant and timely information, so we’re working hard to display trusted information and combat misinformation and harmful content across our services. We will continue to invest in the people, policies, technology, products and partnerships we need.
Making information accessible and useful to everyone is central to our mission, and supporting responsible advertising, including political advertising, where possible is a key part of that effort. We believe that affordable digital advertising is especially valuable for small campaigns that want to reach a wide range of voters, and we will continue to work with legislators, business partners, and community groups on this important topic. .
