Running advertising for political candidates, campaigns, and committees requires additional demands and restrictions not seen in other categories. It’s critical to be informed and adhere to the rules to ensure your advertising campaigns succeed.

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What platforms can you run political ads on?

• Meta (Facebook and Instagram)
• Google (Search, YouTube, Display)
• Reddit
• Snapchat
• X (Twitter)

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Other placements, including Connected TV (CTV), Digital Out Of Home (DOOH), Programmatic, and native advertising, also allow political content.

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What are the specific requirements for Meta?

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Meta has two critical requirements to run ads: individual authorization and page disclaimers. It is also important to note that Meta just changed the default setting on accounts to limit political content from accounts that you are not already following. 

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This can be updated by going to: Settings > Content Preferences > Political Content 

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Once you’re ready to start running political advertisements you will need to follow the below instructions. When you go to create a new ad campaign on Meta that’s about elections, social issues, or politics in the U.S., you will see the Country dropdown appear, and then you will see both confirm identity and page disclaimer.

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You will need to get individual authorization first, and then create the proper disclaimers for your candidate, campaign, or committee and attach it to the correct ad manager account. An overview can be found here, and more details on each process are outlined below.

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Individual Authorization:

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First, ensure you are individually authorized to run political advertising. 

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Warning: This process can take anywhere from a few days to a week or more, so allocate enough time before you plan to run ads. You will need to follow the process outlined here and be sure to have the following ready:

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1. Admin access to the page
2. Two-factor authentication turned on
3. A cell phone to receive text confirmation
4. A valid Driver’s License or Passport
5. A mailing address where you can easily and quickly retrieve mail

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In some cases, you may need to enlist a public notary to confirm your identity. If you find yourself in this situation, look for on-demand notaries near you.

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Page Disclaimers:

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Once you are individually approved, you will then need to make sure that your page has the proper disclaimer attached. In order to create a disclaimer for your page, you will need verified information about your organization. Details on what is needed are outlined here, and more information is provided below.

• Verification of the mailing address with a government-issued document (EIN or FEC registration only)

Once all information is submitted, you will need to wait for it to be reviewed (24 hours or more). Link the disclaimer to the ad manager account you will use to run ads.

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Note: You will still need to have "paid for by" language on your creative assets used in these ads.

More information on accessing your basic ad manager account, as well as creating a business manager can be found here.

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