Elizabeth Warren says Twitter ban on political ads could muzzle climate activists but give polluters a free ride

'Twitter's new ad policy will allow fossil fuel companies to buy ads defending themselves and spreading misleading info'

Elizabeth Warren has slammed Twitter's decision to ban forms of political advertising on its platform, saying the move would ultimately prevent activists from spreading awareness about climate change – while allowing major polluters to advance misinformation.

The Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 hopeful wrote: “Twitter's new ad policy will allow fossil fuel companies to buy ads defending themselves and spreading misleading info – but won't allow organisations fighting the climate crisis to buy ads holding those companies accountable.”

She added: “We need accountability.”

Ms Warren has spoken out in recent weeks about political advertising on other social media sites like Facebook, which allows politicians to spread false or misleading ads.

Facebook’s decision to allow manipulative political advertising on its site drew a swift backlash from critics, including Ms Warren, who then released an intentionally misleading post on the platform claiming the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had endorsed Donald Trump for re-election.

The move by Facebook to begin allowing misleading ads – and Ms Warren’s sharp criticism – has highlighted issues surrounding misinformation in the 2020 presidential elections.

Twitter then issued its own announcement by CEO Jack Dorsey, who said politicians would still be allowed to tweet on the platform but the company would no longer allow them to purchase advertising.

“We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,” he said. “Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimised and targeted political messages on people. We believe this decision should not be compromised by money.”

The site took its decision a step further shortly after when Mr Dorsey announced the ban would also include “issue ads”, which are advertisements from entities about political issues.

In her latest tweets condemning the decision by Twitter, the senator shared a link to an environmental newsletter written by climate journalist Emily Atkin, who argued that “environmental groups can’t pay to spread pro-climate policy messages” under the site’s new rules, while “Exxon can pay to spread tweets claiming a widespread political conspiracy against it, and touting its pro-climate credentials”.

Ms Warren followed up her tweet with another that read: “It turns out if you're a giant corporation with millions to spend misleading people on your record of accelerating the climate crisis, that's exactly what you can – and probably will – do.”

Twitter has said it will share its final policy on the issue by 15 November, and it will include certain exceptions. For example, advertising about voter registration will reportedly still be allowed.

“We need more forward-looking political ad regulation,” Mr Dorsey wrote in a tweet of his own, adding that that’s “very difficult to do.”

“Ad transparency requirements are progress, but not enough,” he wrote. “The internet provides entirely new capabilities, and regulators need to think past the present day to ensure a level playing field.”