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Spotify joins Twitter by hitting 'pause' on political ads for 2020


Facebook may soon be the last one with political ads on its platform, as Spotify has announced it putting them on ‘pause’ in early 2020.

The music site revealed Friday it will halt political advertisements because it does not have the resources to ‘validate and review’ this type of content.

The change will take effect on Spotify’s ad-supported tier, and on exclusive and original podcasts, but will exclude external podcast that already have ads embedded in them.

Spotify follows behind Twitter, which put an end to political campaign and issue ads in November, calling it an important step in reducing the flow of election-related misinformation.

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Spotify has announced it will 'pause' them in early 2020. The music site revealed Friday it will halt political advertisements because it does not have the resources to 'validate and review' this type of content

Spotify has announced it will ‘pause’ them in early 2020. The music site revealed Friday it will halt political advertisements because it does not have the resources to ‘validate and review’ this type of content

The news was first reported by AdAge, which revealed Spotify will ‘pause political advertising in early 2020 across its ad-supported tier—which boosts nearly 130 million users— as well as the streaming giant’s original and exclusive podcasts, some of which include ‘The Joe Budden Podcast’ and ‘Amy Schumer Presents.’

The change will only reflect in the US, as the firm does not run political ads in other countries.

A Spotify spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘Beginning in early 2020, Spotify will pause the selling of political advertising.’

‘This will include political advertising content in our ad-supported tier and in Spotify original and exclusive podcasts.’

Spotify follows behind Twitter, which put an end to political campaign and issue ads in November, calling it an important step in reducing the flow of election-related misinformation

Spotify follows behind Twitter, which put an end to political campaign and issue ads in November, calling it an important step in reducing the flow of election-related misinformation

A Spotify spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'Beginning in early 2020, Spotify will pause the selling of political advertising.' 'This will include political advertising content in our ad-supported tier and in Spotify original and exclusive podcasts.'

A Spotify spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘Beginning in early 2020, Spotify will pause the selling of political advertising.’ ‘This will include political advertising content in our ad-supported tier and in Spotify original and exclusive podcasts.’

‘At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content.’

‘We will reassess this decision as we continue to evolve our capabilities.’

Spotify is the latest newcomer to remove this type of content political ads, as Twitter was one of the first sites to spark the movement.

However, unlike Spotify’s pause, Twitter has come out swinging with a complete ban.

CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted the change to his platform in October, saying the company is recognizing that advertising on social media offers an unfair level of targeting compared to other mediums.

And the new policy took into effect on November 22.

‘We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…’ he tweeted.

CEO Jack Dorsey (pictured) tweeted the change to his platform in October, saying the company is recognizing that advertising on social media offers an unfair level of targeting compared to other mediums

CEO Jack Dorsey (pictured) tweeted the change to his platform in October, saying the company is recognizing that advertising on social media offers an unfair level of targeting compared to other mediums

A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people. We believe this decision should not be compromised by money.

‘While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions.’

However, Twitters rival, Facebook, did not stay quiet for too long before CEO Mark Zuckerberg hit back with his own ideas of political ads during an earnings conference call in October.

He said: ‘This is complex stuff. Anyone who says the answer is simple hasn’t thought about the nuances and downstream challenges.

‘I don’t think anyone can say that we are not doing what we believe or we haven’t thought hard about these issues.’

CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) hit back with his own ideas of political ads during an earnings conference call in October. He said: 'This is complex stuff. Anyone who says the answer is simple hasn't thought about the nuances and downstream challenges

CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) hit back with his own ideas of political ads during an earnings conference call in October. He said: ‘This is complex stuff. Anyone who says the answer is simple hasn’t thought about the nuances and downstream challenges

Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook after his conference call to reiterate the importance of 'free expression' in relation to the upcoming US presidential election next year. He also claimed the company had removed multiple foreign interference campaigns from Iran and Russia

Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook after his conference call to reiterate the importance of ‘free expression’ in relation to the upcoming US presidential election next year. He also claimed the company had removed multiple foreign interference campaigns from Iran and Russia

After the conference call, Zuckerberg then posted a lengthy message on Facebook that he strongly believes in the social media company has an ‘important role’ in ‘defending free expression’.

He wrote: ‘I believe strongly – and I believe that history supports – that free expression has been important for driving progress and building more inclusive societies around the world, that at times of social tension there has often been urge to pull back on free expression, and that we will be best served over the long term by resisting this urge and defending free expression.

‘Today is certainly a historical moment of social tension, and I view an important role of our company as defending free expression.’

Zuckerberg said he has also considered banning political ads, but remains wary of the move’s impact. ‘It’s hard to define where to draw the line,’ he said.

‘Would we really block ads for important political issues like climate change or women’s empowerment?’

The motion to remove or pause the ads may be from the fiasco of the 2016 election, which saw an influx of misinformation flood social media sites – specifically Facebook.

 



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