Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has decided to prohibit political campaigns and advertisers from utilizing its generative artificial intelligence (AI) advertising tools, as reported exclusively by Reuters.
On November 6, Meta updated its help center to officially communicate this decision. In a note explaining the functionality of the generative AI ad creation tools, the company clarified that advertisers running campaigns related to sensitive topics such as Housing, Employment, Credit, Social Issues, Elections, Politics, Health, Pharmaceuticals, or Financial Services are not currently allowed to use these Generative AI features within its Ads Manager.
This move is aimed at enabling Meta to gain a better understanding of potential risks associated with the use of Generative AI in ads that touch upon regulated industries, and to establish the appropriate safeguards.
It’s worth noting that Meta’s general advertising standards do not have specific rules addressing AI content. However, the company does prohibit ads containing content that has been debunked by its fact-checking partners.
In a similar vein, Google updated its political content policy in September, requiring all verified election advertisers to disclose the use of AI in their campaign content. Google’s standards emphasize the disclosure of “synthetic content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events” and stipulate that these disclosures must be prominently placed where users can easily notice them.
However, Google’s platforms exempt ads containing synthetic content that is inconsequential to the claims made in the ad from these disclosure requirements.
In the United States, regulators are actively considering the implementation of regulations regarding political AI deep fakes in preparation for the 2024 election cycle. Concerns have arisen about the potential impact of AI on social media platforms, particularly in terms of influencing voter sentiment through the dissemination of fake news and deep fakes.
Furthermore, there have been claims of political bias in AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, one of the most popular AI chatbots. However, these claims are subject to dispute within the AI community and academia.