How To Disable Instagram And Facebook Political Ads

Facebook updates its popular Facebook and Instagram apps allowing users to disable political ads. The change comes along a larger effort. The Californian-based social media conglomerate aims to help over 4 million U.S. citizens to register to vote for the upcoming presidential elections. That’s mainly because of the impact of COVID-19, that will most likely cause changes in the voting process and many citizens will be encouraged to cast their vote from their homes.

The new Facebook Political Ads controls are rolling out as we speak. In the first stage only Facebook and Instagram users from the United States will be able to notice them. The social media giant plans to expand the feature to other countries that allow enforcement on ads about elections, politics and social issues.

2 Ways To Disable Facebook Political Ads

A. From The Ad

1. Whenever you see a Political Ad displaying on your news feed, tap the top-right part of the ad. It’s the location where the advertiser or the advertising organization is mentioned.
2. A configuration slides-up from the bottom of the screen. Tap on ‘See fewer ads about this topic’.
3. Confirm that you want to hide the ad and aim to see less ads about social issues, elections and politics.

B. From The Ad Preferences

1. On the Facebook home screen, tap the Menu icon available in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
2. Open Settings and scroll for the Ads section.
3. Tap on Ad Preferences.
4. Select Ad Topics.
5. Tap on ‘Social Issues, Elections or Politics’.
6. Select ‘See fewer ads about this topic’.

How To Turn Off Political Ads On Instagram

A. From The Ad

1. Scroll your Instagram feed until you reach a political ad. Tap on the ‘Paid for [advertiser name]’ label, available just below the ad.
2. Select ‘Learn More About This Ad’, in the pop up menu that slides in from the bottom of the screen.
3. Confirm that you want to see less ads about social issues, elections and politics.
Fact: You can only censor all political ads, not just a specific candidate.

B. From The Ad Preferences

1. On Instagram, tap the Menu icon available in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Select Settings the first result in the list.
3. Tap on Ads.
4. Select the new Ad Topics Preferences label.
5. Tap on ‘Social Issues, Elections or Politics’ to select it and let Instagram know that you want to see less ads about these topics.
6. Hit ‘Save’ to confirm.

Fact: Disabling Facebook Political Ads applies to all candidates, Super PAcs and other organizations that include the “Paid for by” political disclaimer in the ad set.

Do you plan to turn of Political Ads on Facebook and Instagram? Let us know in the comments section available below.

Related: How to download all your Facebook photos and video to a computer or your Google Photos account.