Thread by @_edjw

Twitter's ban on political ads could lead to some weird incentives and situations for campaign groups, charities, and NGOs.

Twitter currently defines 'issue ads' as "ads that advocate for or against legislative issues of national importance".

business.twitter.com/en/help/ads-po…

Twitter says that "Examples of legislative issues of national importance include but are not limited to: climate change, healthcare, immigration, national security, taxes."

*A lot* of campaign groups are already be covered by this!

And then what if you're a a small campaign group and successfully get an issue to be high on the political agenda? Or maybe your issue got high on the agenda for some other reason like a newsworthy event outside your control.

At the start of that campaign, your issue isn't of national importance. You can run ads on Twitter about your issue.

But at some point in the campaign, your issue is now of national importance. Politicians, the media, and the public are talking about it.

You're not allowed to use Twitter ads to highlight your issue or promote actions any more.

How do you know when your issue has reached national importance? How does Twitter know?

If 'national security' and 'taxes' are examples of an issue of national importance, then a lot of issues could be deemed to fall under those headings.

I think Twitter thinks it's making life easier for itself by saying no 'political' ads. That might be true but this will still get really complicated.