Facebook lifts political ad ban for Georgia runoffs

Facebook will allow political advertisements related to the Senate runoffs in Georgia starting Wednesday, partially lifting a post-election ban.

The company announced Tuesday that advertisers who have completed Facebook’s ad authorizations process will be able to begin running them again.

Ads that target locations outside of Georgia or are not related to the runoff elections will be rejected, the company said in a blog post.

Facebook had initially told advertisers that the ban — meant to minimize the spread of political misinformation in the aftermath of the election — would last a week.

The company notified advertisers last month that the pause would last “another month, though there may be an opportunity to resume these ads sooner.”

Google, which instituted a similar post-election freeze, began allowing political ads again last week.

Both platforms had been under pressure to reopen advertising for the two Georgia races that will define the political makeup of the Senate.

Democrats have said that the ad bans were already costing the Democratic candidates, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, in their races against incumbent GOP Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively.