Political ads in the EU: are they still allowed?

On 10 October 2025 an EU regulation on political advertising started to apply. It asks for a label on every political ad, information on who pays, and strict rules on targeting. Meta and Google judged those rules unworkable and stopped altogether: since early October 2025 neither shows political, electoral or social issue ads inside the EU. LinkedIn and TikTok had not allowed political ads for some time already.

The United Kingdom is not in the EU, so the regulation does not apply there. Political ads still run in the UK, under the rules of the platforms and the Elections Act 2022.

Ads that fall under the EU stop

It goes further than parties and candidates. At Meta, ads about social issues fall under it too: migration, climate, health policy, rights, the economy. A charity asking people to sign a petition, or a business taking a stance on a new law in an ad, hits the same line. Such an ad is rejected, even when it names no party.

Where exactly the line falls, the platform decides per ad. When in doubt, write the ad about the activity, the service or the product, not about the stance.

The UK rules in short

Google lets UK election ads run in the United Kingdom only after UK Election Ads verification, with a UK address and identity documents. Meta asks for authorisation before ads about social issues, elections or politics, and adds a "Paid for by" line. On top of that, the Elections Act 2022 requires a digital imprint on paid political material: who promoted it and on whose behalf. The Electoral Commission published statutory guidance on those imprints, in force since November 2023. An advertiser based in the EU that targets UK voters still meets the UK rules, not the EU ones.

Options left for parties and charities

Without paid ads in the EU, your own channels remain. Ordinary posts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are not banned; they simply reach fewer people than they did with a budget behind them. Your own site, your newsletter, print, posters and events matter more. A charity does better with a site that is found on what people search for and a steady rhythm of posts; the basics are in how to use social media for business, and our social media management runs it for you.

A charity looking for volunteers or donors can still advertise its work through Google Ad Grants, as long as the ad is about the activity and not about a political position. How that works is in Google Ads for charities, and the sector page for charities shows what else we build for them.

Effects on an ordinary business

A baker, an installer or an online shop usually notices nothing. The stop only touches you when an ad takes a stance on a social issue, even a well meant one. An ad for solar panels that shows the saving on your energy bill is a product ad, and it keeps running through Google Ads or Meta. Examples of such ads per sector are in Google Ads examples. An ad that asks people to vote against a new rule on subsidies is not. On the Google side of your account, the advertiser verification applies as well.

Businesses that talk about sustainability, health or jobs keep the ad on their own offer. The stance belongs on your site, in a blog or in an unpaid post, not in a paid campaign. For job and housing ads, the rules of the Special Ad Category apply on top.

Reading the Ad Library

Every ad running in the EU and the UK appears in the Meta Ad Library, ordinary business ads included. Anyone can see what a page advertises, and old political ads stay stored there. To see how a competitor advertises, the library is a good start; to test how your own ad looks in the feed, use the Facebook ad preview. A local event or an open day can still be promoted; see local advertising.