Meta to ban political ads in the EU due to 'unworkable' Brussels rules

No more political ads on Facebook and Instagram. At least not for their respective 261 million and 272 million monthly users in the European Union. Meta, the group that owns these platforms , "will no longer allow political, election, and social issue ads on its platforms in the European Union, due to the unworkable requirements" of a European regulation dedicated to transparency in political advertising, the company announced this Friday, July 25, in a press release.

This decision " only concerns the European Union," assures Mark Zuckerberg's company. "We continue to believe that online political advertising is an essential element of modern politics."

Adopted in 2024 with full entry into force in October 2025, the European regulation targeted by Meta aims to ensure greater transparency and guard against foreign interference in the run-up to elections. In particular, it requires platforms to clearly flag political advertisements and indicate who funds them. Profiling based on personal data relating to ethnic origin, religion, and sexual orientation is prohibited, as is the use of data relating to minors .

The European Union took these measures in particular in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The British consultancy firm amassed, without permission or knowledge, the personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users. This data was then used for political targeting during the 2016 US election campaign and the Brexit referendum.

Meta, a regular critic of European legislation , points to the "significant operational challenges" and "legal uncertainties" of these rules. The company also emphasizes in its press release that it is not the first to announce that it will abandon political advertising in the EU - Google had actually done so at the end of 2024.

The American social media giant announced in early July that it was challenging in court a €200 million fine imposed by the European Commission in April for violating rules governing the use of personal data. Facebook and Instagram are also the subject of several investigations under the European Digital Services Act (DSA).

In a move towards rapprochement with Donald Trump , Mark Zuckerberg accused the EU of censorship in January and compared European fines to customs duties.