Meta's historic decision on political advertising in the EU: what changes?

Meta , the social media giant, recently announced a major shift in its handling of political advertising across the EU . With the introduction of new, more stringent rules, the platform intends to comply with European regulations aimed at ensuring greater transparency and security in the digital landscape. But what does all this mean for advertisers, political parties, and users? Here's everything you need to know.

Meta suspends political advertising in the EU

Meta has announced that, starting in October , it will no longer be possible to run ads related to political, social, or electoral issues on its platforms across the European Union, namely Facebook and Instagram. This decision was made in response to the new European provisions contained in the TTPA regulation, which introduce requirements deemed difficult to enforce and create legal uncertainty for ad management.

According to the US company, the restrictions envisaged by the TTPA will severely limit the ways in which advertisers can reach their audiences, thus leading users to see content that is less relevant to their preferences.

The measure will affect over 530 million monthly active users in the EU, with a split of approximately 261 million on Facebook and 272 million on Instagram.

Meta suspends political advertising in the EU: new rules, what changes?

The TTPA regulation, adopted in 2024 and effective from October 2025, requires digital platforms to clearly label political ads and indicate their sponsors, and also prohibits the use of sensitive data and information about minors for advertising targeting. This regulation was also introduced by the European Union following the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, with the aim of protecting transparency and privacy online.

“Despite numerous efforts to share our concerns with policymakers, we faced an impossible choice: either change our services to offer an advertising product that no longer meets the needs of advertisers and users – with no guarantee that this would be considered compliant – or suspend ads related to social issues, elections, and politics in the EU.”

Meta emphasized that it continues to support freedom of expression and the possibility of political debate on its channels, but noted that the new regulation makes it unsustainable to maintain an effective advertising system for this type of content. The company also noted that, while it considers political advertising a fundamental tool for democratic debate, the European regulation imposes constraints that compromise the quality of communication, forcing the suspension of paid advertising on political and social issues only in the European Union, while these services will continue to be offered elsewhere.