Meta’s Approach to Elections and

How Advertisers Can Prepare

 2024 elections by the numbers

MORE THAN ABOUT MORE THAN

2B 40,000 $20B
people going to people working on invested in teams and
the polls in 2024 safety and security technology in this area
since 2016

2
 Meta’s comprehensive approach to elections

Advanced Security and Industry-Leading Transparency for Political A Responsible Brand Safety and
Safety Operations Fact-Checking Network & Social Issue Ads Approach to AI Suitability
Brand safety and
suitability controls
for advertisers
We offer rigorous brand safety and suitability tools, including
block lists, live stream exclusions, and additional tools that are
both at the publisher and content level to allow advertisers
greater control over where their ads may appear.

Learn how you can use these tools in the Help Center.
How our policies and tools work together

AVAILABLE
INVENTORY FOR AD
PLACEMENT

Aligns to Global Alliance

for Responsible Media SUITABILITY CONTROLS
(GARM) Suitability Content-based controls

Framework

MONETIZATION STANDARDS
Partner and Content Monetization Policies

Meets or exceeds PLATFORM FLOOR

the GARM Brand Community Standards and guidelines
Safety Floor
Brand suitability controls

NAME PURPOSE NAME PURPOSE

Content allow lists give advertisers the ability to work Block lists stop your ads from appearing in places that you don't
Content with trusted Meta Business Partners to review and consider suitable for your brand or campaign. Block lists can
Block lists
allow lists customize lists of brand-suitable videos for running include Pages and profiles as well as apps. You can apply block
in-stream campaigns. lists to all or some of your accounts.

Inventory Inventory filter allows you to control the sensitivity level of Topic exclusions for Facebook in-stream videos allow you to
filter the content that your ads appear within or adjacent to. Topic exclusion choose, at the ad account level, which published Facebook
(content-based) in-stream videos you want your ads to display on by excluding
With our live stream exclusion tools, you can choose specific topics including News, Politics, Gaming and Religion.
Live stream
to exclude live videos from all partners, including
exclusion
currently and previously live video content. Stop your ads from appearing on Reels from publishers that
Videos meet our Partner Monetization Policies but have not signed up
Placement Opt out of specific placements where you don’t want published by for monetization. Or on the Facebook in-stream video
opt-out your ads to appear. non-partners placement, stop your ads from appearing in videos published by
exclusions non-partners, or publishers not on our “publisher list" exclusion.
This product has limited availability.
A publisher allow list is a list of publishers that you've
approved to display your ads. You can control where
your ads will display on Audience Network and
Publisher
Facebook in-stream video. Publisher allow lists can be
allow lists
applied to ad accounts. This means that if other people
create an ad or ad campaign using your ad account, your
publisher allow list will automatically be applied.
Brand suitability transparency tools

NAME PURPOSE

Delivery reports provide you with access to impressions data at the content level.
Content delivery The content delivery report gives greater transparency into which individual pieces of
report content your ads were embedded in.

Publisher delivery report Delivery reports provide you with access to impressions data at the publisher level.

Our publisher list details the places where your ads could appear. You can select a
placement type to review publishers for specific placements and search, sort and filter
Publisher list
publishers by name.

Third-party brand We partner with third-parties for providing independent reporting on the context in
suitability verification which ads appear.
Offering brand
safety and
suitability to
advertisers
• Inventory Filter allows advertisers
to control which content their ads
may show up next to based on their
own suitability preferences
Inventory Filter for Feed and Reels Ads
Available for Facebook and Instagram Feed and Reels ads

New Languages!
JAPANESE ITALIAN
MALAY POLISH
THAI SWEDISH
VIETNAMESE TURKISH
URDU
ASSAMESE
BENGALI
BHOJPURI
GUJARATI
HINDI
KANNADA
MALAYALAM
MARATHI
ORIIYA
PUNJABI
TAMIL
TELUGU Supported languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
Meta brand safety and suitability ecosystem for political content
Political content details

LIMITED Filters out content deemed ‘high risk’ and ‘medium risk’ in accordance with the GARM Suitability Framework.
Inventory Filter ‘Limited’ content may include, but is not limited to, any posts detailing candidates, their positions, party
setting affiliations, voter registration and day-of voting information for local polling stations, and so on.

Filters out content deemed ‘high risk’ in accordance with the GARM Suitability Framework.

MODERATE Adjacent content under the ‘moderate’ setting may include posts about candidates, their positions,
Inventory Filter setting party affiliations, voter registration and day-of voting information, as well as discussions of debated
social issues with limited use of controversial or confrontational language or gestures.

Adjacent content under the ‘expanded’ setting may include posts about candidates, their
EXPANDED positions, party affiliations, voter registration and day-of voting information, as well as
Inventory Filter setting content focusing on debated social issues, including content that may contain language or
gestures that could be considered confrontational or controversial.

Content that violates our Community Standards and Guidelines or Content

Monetization Policies. This includes: Content that exploits controversial political or
ALWAYS EXCLUDED
social issues for commercial purposes; Shocking, sensational, disrespectful or
Standards, guidelines and policies excessively violent content and Misinformation: Content that has been rated false by a
third-party fact checker.
Third party verification for Feed and Reels

Passed via Meta API Provides transparency reporting

Adjacent content to ad is passed to Safety & Suitability Report

ADJACENT
CONTENT #1 third-party partner.

3rd party partners will score content

independently from Meta against the
GARM framework

■ Death or Injury ■ Military Conflict

■ Drugs & Alcohol ■ Online Piracy
■ Spam or Harmful Content ■ Hate Speech and Acts of
Aggression ■ Safety Score
■ Adult & Explicit Sexual Content
■ Obscenity & Profanity ■ Suitability Score
■ Arms & Ammunition
■ Crime and Harmful Acts ■ Content Examples with
ADJACENT ■ Terrorism associated risk level
CONTENT #2 ■ Impression Data
Political Content | Brand Suitability Controls Guidance
● Run across all approved Meta placements
● Rely on Community Standards and Guidelines, Monetization Standards

01 Business As Usual / Business Continuity

● Rely on default settings for inventory filter or apply your brand’s established inventory filter
setting
○ Feed & Reels ads - Expanded (default)
○ In-content ads - Moderate (default)

● Run across all approved Meta placements

● Consider shifting inventory filter settings to more restrictive level
○ Feed and Reels ads - Leave at Expanded or shift to Moderate
Sensitivity around social and/or political
02 landscape during election season
○ In-content ads - Leave at Moderate or shift to Limited
● Utilize content / publisher allowlists and/or blocklists
Increasing sensitivity

● Consider working with a Meta Business Partner for additional brand suitability
management (allowlists, blocklists, third-party verification)
● Consider excluding ‘News’ and ‘Politics’ using content-based Topic Exclusion Controls

● Consider adjusting placement mix and shift to placements that offer additional suitability
controls (Feed, Reels, In-stream, Audience Network, etc.)
● Shift inventory filter settings to Limited for both in-content ads and Feed and Reels ads
Increased sensitivity to political content
03 during election season
● Work with Meta Business Partner for additional brand suitability management (allowlists,
blocklists, third-party verification) for independent transparency into the context in which
your ads appear
● Additional controls to utilize: Content / Publisher allowlist and/or blocklists, content-based
Topic Exclusions for ‘News’ & ‘Politics’, Live Stream exclusions (more details here)

● If brand suitability tactics provided above are not sufficient given your brand’s tolerance for
Extreme sensitivity to political content
04 during election season
political content during election season, please connect with your Meta Account Team to
discuss other potential measures to moderate the context in which your ads appear during
this election season
Practitioner Guidance : Brand Suitability Controls for Political Content
Brand Suitability Control
(supported placements for each control)
Inventory Filter for in-content ads
(Facebook in-stream, Ads on Facebook and
Instagram Reels, Audience Network)
Inventory Filter for feed ads
(Facebook and Instagram Feed, Facebook and
Instagram Reels feed ads)
Content allow lists
Publisher allow lists
(Facebook in-stream, Audience Network)
Publisher block lists
(Facebook in-stream, Ads on Facebook and
Instagram Reels, Instagram Profile Feed,
Audience Network)
Topic Exclusion Controls
(Facebook in-stream)
Third-Party Verification
(Facebook and Instagram Feed, Facebook and
Instagram Reels ads, Facebook In-stream,
Audience Network)
Live Stream Exclusions
(Facebook in-stream)
Sensitivity
Recommended Guidance & Best Practices
Level
● Apply Inventory Filter for in-content ads at the ad account level under ‘In-content ads’ on the left side panel of the
Brand Safety & Suitability Hub in Meta Business Suite
1, 2
○ Quickly apply your Inventory Filter setting to all ad accounts within the Brand Safety & Suitability Hub by selecting
‘Apply this setting to other ad accounts’ under ‘In-content Ads’ → ‘Inventory Filter’
● Apply Inventory Filter for Feed and Reels ads at the ad account level under ‘Feed Ads’ on the left side panel of the
Brand Safety & Suitability Hub in Meta Business Suite
1, 2
○ Quickly apply your Inventory Filter setting to all ad accounts within the Brand Safety & Suitability Hub by selecting
‘Apply this setting to other ad accounts’ under ‘Feed Ads’ → ‘Inventory Filter’
● Work with a Meta Business Partner to create content allow lists to customize lists of brand suitable, organic content
for Facebook in-stream
● Review your delivery reports and our partner-publisher lists to determine which publishers you are comfortable with
your content running within or adjacent to.
○ Create and apply a blocklist of publishers you want to avoid under ‘Block Lists’ on the left side panel of the Brand 2, 3
Safety & Suitability Hub within Meta Business Suite
○ For increased control, utilize a publisher allowlist to ensure content only runs on approved content / publishers.
Create and apply publisher allowlists under ‘Publisher allow list’ on the left side panel of the Brand Safety &
Suitability Hub within Meta Business Suite
● Exclude ‘News’ and ‘Politics’ topics
● Apply these Topic Exclusions at the ad account level under ‘In-content ads’ → ‘Topic Exclusions’ on the left side panel 2, 3
of the Brand Safety & Suitability Hub in Meta Business Suite
● Work with Meta Business Partners (DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, Zefr) for independent and transparent
measurement on the context in which your ads appear.
2, 3
● Clients should work directly with partners for measurement partnership & integration, especially before considering
any major changes to suitability control settings and/or media pause
● Exclude live videos from all partners, including currently and previously live video content.
● Apply this exclusion at the ad account level under ‘In-content ads’ → ‘Content Exclusions’ → ‘Live Videos’ on the left 3
side panel of the Brand Safety & Suitability Hub in Meta Business Suite
Appendix
Meta’s advanced safety
and security operations

● Election Operation Centers for real-time

threat monitoring

● We enforce our Community Standards in over

80 languages, and report on how we’re doing
regularly
We’ve built
the largest
independent
fact-checking
network of
any platform

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Transparency for
political & social issue ads
All ads about social issues, elections or politics are held to our
higher standard of authenticity and transparency on Facebook
and Instagram. To run ads about any of these things,
advertisers must:

● Complete an authorization process

● Confirm their identity and location
● Create “paid for by” disclaimers
● Have ads entered into a public Ad Library
2024 US advertising
restriction period
As in previous years, we will also block new
political, electoral and social issue ads during the
final week of the US election campaign.
Ads that have previously run before this restriction
period will be allowed to run during this time.
A responsible
approach to AI
● We continually adapt to emerging
technologies — like Gen AI
● Political and social issue
advertisers must disclose when
their ad uses AI in certain cases
● We will label organic AI-Generated
images on Facebook, Instagram
and Threads
● For organic videos and audio, we’ll
be requiring people to self-disclose
when they used AI to create them.