Google considers changes to political ad policy: report

Google is considering changing its political ad policy, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The move comes just one week after Facebook and Twitter have discussed their future handling of political ads.
Sources told the Journal that Google has been conducting internal meetings and plans to share information with its employees this week. The specifics and the timeline for the changes are unclear at this time.
{mosads}Several Google employees suggested to the newspaper the adjustments may involve restrictions on what audiences ad buyers can target.
The Hill has reached out to Google for comment.
Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the social media platform would no longer accept political advertising. His announcement followed contentious congressional testimony from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg when he defended his company’s policy to not fact-check political ads.
Last month, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) condemned Facebook for running an anti-Biden ad from President Trump’s reelection campaign. The ad alleged Biden wanted to remove a Ukrainian prosecutor because he was looking into the company where Biden’s son sat on the board. Google also ran the ad on its YouTube platform.
Google’s consideration comes at a time when platforms are dealing with criticism about spreading misinformation, specifically about U.S. politics and involving elections.
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