X (Twitter) marks its spot by bringing back political ads

X, formerly known as Twitter, is lifting its ban on political advertising in the US.

The Elon Musk-owned platform famously banished political ads back in 2019 when former CEO Jack Dorsey was still in charge.

Explaining his decision at the time, Dorsey posted: “This isn’t about free expression. This is about paying for reach. And paying to increase the reach of political speech has significant ramifications that today’s democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle. It’s worth stepping back in order to address.”

However, less than a year after taking over the platform, Musk has reversed that decision as part of his “commitment to free speech”.

Dig deeper: Elon Musk kills the Twitter brand: Welcome to the age of X

Why we care. If you’re part of a cause-driven organization, this might be good news. But if your brand has nothing to do with politics, it might give you a reason to worry – as you probably wouldn’t want your products and services to be associated with a platform that spreads political messages conflicting with your business’s principles and values.

Why now? The announcement comes after X announced it was relaxing its policy for cause-based ads in the US back in January, hinting that a policy change was on the horizon. Notably, this policy adjustment is occurring slightly over a year ahead of the upcoming US Presidential election.