Google pausing all political ads through Jan. 21

Google is pausing all political ads through President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week after the deadly riot at the Capitol last week, a spokesperson for the company confirmed Wednesday. 

Google sent a letter to its advertising partners on Thursday notifying them of the ban set to remain in effect until at least Jan. 21, a day after Biden’s inauguration, according to a copy of the letter shared with The Hill.

Google said in a statement that it would block all political ads, as well as any ads “referencing impeachment, the inauguration, or protests at the US Capitol,” as part of an expansion of its “Sensitive Event” policy enforcement. 

“We regularly pause ads over unpredictable, ‘sensitive’ events when ads can be used to exploit the event or amplify misleading information. Beyond this, we have long-standing policies blocking content that incites violence or promotes hate and we will be extremely vigilant about enforcing on any ads that cross this line,” the company said in a statement. 

The ad freeze will be applied across ads running through Google Ads, DV360, YouTube and AdX Authorized Buyer, Google told advertisers.

Google had imposed a post-election ban on political advertising but later lifted the ad freeze in early December ahead of the crucial Senate runoff elections in Georgia. Democrats ultimately won both seats, granting the party the majority in the Senate.

Google’s latest ad ban follows a stream of actions taken by tech giants to crack down on content after a mob of pro-Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol last week. 

Google-owned YouTube on Wednesday said it temporarily suspended Trump’s channel due to the “ongoing potential for violence,” after having removed some of the content on the channel. 

YouTube’s decision comes after Facebook said it would suspend Trump’s account indefinitely at least until Biden’s inauguration and Twitter said it would permanently ban the president’s account.