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Its election year in the US, which means youre probably going to see lots of political ads. While some social media platforms have banned them such as Twitter Facebook has yet to do so. But luckily, as of this June, it does offer an option to shut them off yourself.
Facebooks history with political ads, and politics in general, is a complicated and unpleasant one. Suffice to say the platforms infamous for hosting a great deal of disinformation, much of it centered in the political sphere, and several ads have had some nasty imagery accompanying them. Word from Bloomberg and New York Times is that Facebook is considering banning political ads ahead of the next election, so its likely the company finds them as thorny and problematic as a lot of users do.
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So if you want to take the initiative and remove political ads from Facebook yourself, heres how you can do it.
First, youll need to use the Facebook app, as the settings are much easier to access there. Go to the settings menu under Settings and Privacy on the apps menu. Once youre there, find the Ad Preferences Setting.
Once you find that, tap on it and scroll until you find Ad topics, which will be listed under your interests. The Ad Topics in question are a motley collection, with alcohol, parenting, and pets being put on the same level as politics.
Select the ellipsis next to Social Issues, Elections or Politics. Youll see the option to See fewer ads on this topic. Tap this. While it probably wont completely eliminate political ads from your feed (Facebook doesnt guarantee it will, hence the use of the word fewer), itll help cut down on what you do see.
And thats it! Now youll see fewer political ads on Facebook. Good luck!
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How to turn off political ads on Facebook
