Facebook parent Meta has announced that it will prevent political advertisers from making use of its latest generative AI advertising tools, according to a company spokesperson. This move effectively denies campaigns access to tools that legislators have cautioned could significantly amplify the dissemination of election misinformation, says a report by news agency Reuters.
As of now, the social networking giant has not publicly revealed this decision via any updates to its advertising guidelines. These guidelines prohibit ads containing content debunked by the company's fact-checking partners but seemingly lack specific regulations pertaining to AI.
This development comes at a time when Big Tech firms like Google and Microsoft are bringing their own versions of AI tools. Microsoft unveiled AI-powered Edge and Bing browser feature while Google has its own conversational AI, Bard.
A month following Meta's announcement of broadening advertisers' access to AI-driven advertising tools capable of swiftly generating backgrounds, adjusting images, and crafting different versions of ad copy based on basic text prompts, the company introduced this policy. Meta stands as the world's second-largest platform for digital ads, the report added.
Meanwhile, the European data regulator has handed an extension of the ban initially imposed by non-European Union (EU) member Norway on the practice of "behavioural advertising" on Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram. This ban, which involves targeting users through the collection of their personal data, is set to encompass all 30 countries within the European Union and the European Economic Area, a previous report by Reuters said.
Since August 7, Meta has been subjected to daily fines in Norway, amounting to 1 million crowns (approximately $90,000), for violating user privacy by leveraging their data, including location and browsing behaviour, for advertising purposes—a common practice among major technology companies.