Google Suspends Political Ads Until After Biden’s Inauguration

Nico Grant, Bloomberg News

Construction on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in preparation for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Joe Biden in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 22. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Google suspended political advertising, trying to tamp down the risk of inciting violence and promoting hatred in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The policy will be in effect from Thursday to at least Jan. 21, the day after Biden becomes president, the Alphabet Inc. unit said Wednesday in a letter to advertisers. There are no exceptions for news or merchandise advertisers. Axios reported the move earlier.

“Given the events of the past week, we will expand our Sensitive Event policy enforcement to temporarily pause all political ads in addition to any ads referencing impeachment, the inauguration, or protests at the U.S. Capitol,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email.

“We regularly pause ads over unpredictable, ‘sensitive’ events when ads can be used to exploit the event or amplify misleading information,” she added. “Beyond this, we have long-standing policies blocking content that incites violence or promotes hate and we will be extremely vigilant about enforcing on any ads that cross this line.”

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