Twitter announces new policy and certification process for issuing political ads

In a bid to tackle political interference on its platform, Twitter has announced a new policy and certification process for issuing advertisements in the US that will come into effect from 30 September. This new policy will impact ads that refer to an election or a clearly identified candidate or ads that advocate for legislative issues of national importance, Del Harvey, Twitter’s vice president of trust and safety said in a blog post late on 30 August. [caption id=“attachment_5035051” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Stock image for Twitter iOS app.[/caption] “To provide people with additional information about individuals or organisations promoting issue ads, we’ve established a certification process that verifies an advertiser’s identity and location within the US,” Harvey said. News organisations that want to run ads around their political coverage can apply for an exemption. “We don’t believe that news organisations running ads on Twitter that report on these issues, rather than advocate for or against them, should be subject to this policy,” added Bruce Falck, General Manager, Revenue Product, Twitter. Twitter’s move comes in the wake of the Russian interference in the US 2016 Presidential elections. The **2018 US mid-term elections** are set to be held in November.