Google latest tech giant to crack down on political ads as pressure on Facebook grows

Google will no longer allow political advertisers to target voters based on their political affiliation, the company announced Wednesday, in a move that will increase pressure on Facebook to limit micro-targeting.

Google also plans to “clarify” its ad policies around false claims to explicitly ban doctored video and images known as “deepfakes”, misleading claims about the census, and “demonstrably false claims” that could undermine trust in elections or the democratic process.

“Whether you’re running for office or selling office furniture, we apply the same ads policies to everyone; there are no carve-outs,” the Google Ads executive Scott Spencer wrote in a blogpost. The policy clarification is an implicit criticism of Facebook’s controversial decision to allow politicians an exemption from its own ban on false claims in advertising.