Google banning political ads in run-up to Philippine elections

Google is banning political ads from running on its platform in the weeks leading up to the Philippines’s presidential elections in May.

Between Feb. 8 and May 9, individuals in the Philippines will not be permitted to run election advertisements, Google in an update to its political content policy posted Wednesday. The time span coincides with the country’s 2022 national and local elections, as the company noted.

The Philippine election is set for May 9.

“From February 2022, Google will not allow election advertisements to run in the Philippines during an election campaign period or a silence period. Election advertisements are ads that promote or oppose any political party or the candidacy of any person or party for public office,” Google wrote in the update.

The tech giant said it will send notifications to affected advertisers in regards to the policy change.

The new policy comes as the Philippines is gearing up for next year’s presidential election, when citizens will vote on a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term.

A number of candidates are currently vying for the post, including Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos; Vice President Maria “Leni” Robredo; Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and former professional boxer Manny Pacquiao.

The Philippines’s election next year will not be the first time Google has barred political ads from running on its platform. The tech giant paused all political ads in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, then extended the ban through then-President-elect Biden’s inauguration.

Additionally, the platform banned political ads from its platform around the time of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Google has also taken similar precautions in foreign countries. The tech giant suspended political advertisements on its platform in the period surrounding Canada’s 2019 federal election and in the run up to a vote in Singapore last year, according to Reuters.

Some analysts have in part credited Duterte’s win in 2016 to social media platforms like Facebook, which they say helped bolster his backing, according to Reuters.