Facebook will allow political ads again starting March 4

Facebook said Wednesday it’s resuming political, electoral and social issue ads on Thursday after a temporary ban put in place after the November 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The company said in October it would be halting political advertising for an indefinite period after the election to prevent confusion or abuse.

“Unlike other platforms, we require authorization and transparency not just for political and electoral ads, but also for social issue ads, and our systems do not distinguish between these categories,” Facebook said in a post Wednesday. “We’ve heard a lot of feedback about this and learned more about political and electoral ads during this election cycle. As a result, we plan to use the coming months to take a closer look at how these ads work on our service to see where further changes may be merited.”

Facebook had temporarily lifted the ban in Georgia amid the state’s runoff elections, but reinstated it following the contests.

In late February, Google said it would once again let political ads run on its platform following a pause that began after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Correction: Facebook said Wednesday it’s resuming political, electoral and social issue ads on Thursday. An earlier version misstated the day the statement was made.