The US company Google has blocked all political ads on Wednesday until the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, has been sworn in on January 20. In a letter to advertisers, the company has indicated that the goal is to reduce the risk of inciting violence and promoting hatred ahead of the inauguration session and a week after a horde of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol.
Thus, the measure will be in effect at least until January 21, when Biden is already president of the United States. Google has thus ruled out exceptions for product or news advertisers. “In light of the events of the past week, we will expand our application of sensitive content policies to temporarily halt all political ads, as well as any ads that refer to impeachment, inauguration or protests in the US Capitol.”, said a spokesman for the company in statements to the agency Bloomberg.
In this sense, he has specified that the affected ads are those considered “sensitive”, as well as those that can be “used to exploit an event or expand misleading information.” “Beyond this, we have long-standing policies that block content that incites violence or promotes hatred and we will be very vigilant for any ads that cross this line,” he said.
