Twitter Canada has added “additional steps” advertisers need to take to prepare before the federal election is called.
In a recent blog post, Michele Austin, head of government and public policy at Twitter Canada, said organizations that intend to advertise political content need to “undergo a thorough certification process in order to advertise on Twitter.”
This includes providing information such as name and email, “ability to cross-reference their identity with Elections Canada Political Participant Registration Database,” and corresponding documents that are highlighted in this list.
A couple of important updates related to political advertising:
✅ We’ve published our Canadian Political Content Policy.
✅ Registration for political advertisements is now open.More details on our blog https://t.co/mjfKaSCZTB #cdnpoli #polcan https://t.co/ndSagHu4J2
— Twitter Canada (@TwitterCanada) August 29, 2019
Austin highlighted in the blog post that political ads must include a “paid for by” or “authorized by” disclaimer, which is the responsibility of the advertiser.
All political ads will be viewable in the Ads Transparency Centre, “where you will be able to see details such as billing information, ad spend, and impressions data per Tweet,” Austin said in the post.
She added that Twitter Canada will be showing demographic targeting data for ads being served and ads will “exist indefinitely within the Transparency Centre.” The ads can be seen by anyone in the world, “whether or not they own a Twitter account.”
The social media company said on June 26th that over the pre-election period — which begins June 30th until the day the election is officially called — political adds will be prohibited in Canada.
“During this period, our policy and enforcement teams will be building the necessary infrastructure and product support to ensure we are appropriately prepared for the critical election period,” Austin said at the time.
The new rules are part of the regulations coming out of Bill C-76, amendments to Canada’s Elections Act, which received royal assent in December.
Those regulations include limits on political advertising by parties, reporting requirements for third parties and not allowing foreign entities to donate during elections.
Facebook has already agreed to create a political ad registry, and also recently revealed rules for advertisers.
Google said it will not be participating.
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