Where platforms lean in on politics

A look at the nuanced and varied state of play of how platforms are approaching political content

This summer, I wrote about platforms running away from politics and news after Instagram’s Adam Mosseri posted on Threads that they wouldn’t be courting political and news content like they once did. Even though I understand why he said it, I was pretty frustrated at his comments.

Meta isn’t alone. Many other platforms are limiting their engagement with politics in different ways. Most press stories focus on concerns about platforms pulling back on election integrity efforts.

So, it would be easy to assume that most companies try to run from politics as quickly as possible.

But that’s not true.

Rather, it’s quite the kaleidoscope of approaches that varies by platform.

Image made using Midjourney.

I wanted to make one of my grids to try to capture it all, but I’m struggling to do so because I am tracking at least 46 platforms, from social media companies to payment platforms to streaming services and more. And across those platforms, I’ve got at least 25 different angles I’m watching, from whether they allow political ads to having a corporate PAC to their election integrity work.

So, while I continue to figure out the best way to visualize that, let’s go through and look at where companies are leaning into politics and elections.

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Substack

: Last week, the company announced they wanted 2024 to be known as the “Substack election” and hired Catherine Valentine to lead their political initiatives. I won’t lie, I had a physical reaction seeing them say they wanted it to be the “Substack election.” I haven’t heard a platform say that since before 2016, and the last time I said it was when I said I wanted 2016 to be known as the “Facebook election.” Which happened. Just not in the way we intended. That’s why I had the reaction. Regardless, I get why Substack is making this move. Politics is one of - if not the - biggest vertical for them, and there will be no shortage of pundits wanting to share their thoughts. Declaring this also puts a target on their back, and the founders have already come under some heat for leaving content up that others would prefer removed. I hope they’re ready.

Google: Also last week, Google became the first company to update their political ad policies to require any political ads that use AI tools or AI-generated content to be prominently labeled as doing so. I will not be surprised if other platforms follow even before the FEC does any rulings on this, Google just got to it first. And despite this Axios headline, this is not the start of companies self-regulating on political ads. That’s been going on since 2017.

X/Twitter: X/Twitter has done 180 on politics since Musk took over. Not only did Musk host DeSantis for his presidential campaign announcement, but Musk himself has posted about a myriad of political topics, Tucker Carlson is now hosting a show there, and they have lifted the political ads ban globally. Plus, X does have openings for people to be focused on elections/civic integrity.

Meta: While Meta has been amongst the most vocal about pulling away from politics and news, they are still very much leaning in on their election integrity work. Yes, some people and teams were let go. We still don’t know what that means exactly in terms of impact. But there are still a lot of people there focused on elections. Plus, it is still where we see campaigns and other political actors spending money. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads will continue to play a role in politics - the question will be how.

TikTok: TikTok is another platform that likes to say that they are an entertainment platform. They, too, have banned a lot of political activity. They also have teams of people working on election integrity issues. In past elections, they’ve helped to push out authoritative information on where, when, and how to vote. I suspect we’ll continue to see more of the same.

Rumble: The Canadian video streaming service was a partner in the first GOP debate and will do the same for the second. Given their affinity with the right, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do more partnerships over the next year.

OpenAI: This summer, OpenAI advertised for someone to focus on election work. At the end of August, they held a roundtable at the Bipartisan Policy Center on AI and elections. They are among the few platforms with specific political policies for their tools.

Video streaming platforms: While a few streaming platforms (i.e.: Disney+) don’t allow political ads, many do. AdImpact published a report this week predicting that over $10 billion will be spent on ads in this election. They predict the most on broadcast and cable, with connected TV (CTV) coming in third with $1.3 billion in spending. None of them have political ad libraries (a rant for another time), but companies like AdImpact can track them, so that’s something. Regardless, not everyone is pushing way the political money. For comparison, 2016 only had $2.6 billion in spending, which jumped to $9 billion in 2020.

Audio streaming/podcasts: Podcasts and audio streaming will impact this election more than people think. But they are incredibly hard to track - both in terms of the ads run on them and which podcasts are the most popular. The RNC had Ruthless do a pre-debate show this summer in Milwaukee, and they’ve been interviewing nearly all of the GOP presidential candidates. Chris Christie has also been making the rounds to folks like Kara Swisher and the guys at the All In podcast. Spotify has come under pressure in the past for their deal with Joe Rogan. Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast is still going strong, with Apple, Spotify, and others having no issues hosting it.

CORRECTION: War Room is not on Spotify.

Payment platforms: Companies like Stripe and PayPal allow candidates to accept political donations through their platforms. Stripe kicked Trump off after January 6, but that hasn’t caused them to shy away.

Coinbase: Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong has been aggressive in the past, pushing lawmakers in DC on crypto policies. It's unclear if he’ll continue to do so in 2024, but it's worth watching.

Telecoms: Political text messaging campaigns have become huge. There’s some regulation in this space, but not a ton. And Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and others have no problem allowing it.

Before 2017, tech platforms fell over themselves to prove they played a role in elections. It showed that they were relevant. (If you want to dig into any of that past, don’t forget about my database of every tech announcement on politics/elections going back to 1996 and the brief history I released through BPC last year.)

After 2016, things shifted dramatically, and those scars run deep. That’s why you will see a splintering among platforms in 2024. Some newer ones that don’t have those scars will be a bit more aggressive. Those that do will still do a lot of work in this space but don’t expect them to embrace it in the same way.

Please support the curation and analysis I’m doing with this newsletter. As a paid subscriber, you make it possible for me to bring you in-depth analyses of the most pressing issues in tech and politics. 

I’m just two short of 200 paid subscribers, and your support can help me reach that milestone! I’m offering a 20% off deal for this week only to sweeten the deal.