Twitter has decided to open its platform to cannabis advertising in the United States and Canada.
A update on website from the company says that, subject to restrictions, Twitter will now allow approved cannabis brands to target adults in legal jurisdictions in the United States and Canada.
Beyond cannabis products, Twitter will also allow ads for related products and services, such as analytical labs or cultivation tools. Until now, only CBD-based cosmetic brands were allowed to advertise on the platform.
Very limited ads
According to the new guidelines, cannabis-related advertisers must be pre-approved by Twitter and have a license issued by the relevant authorities. They can only target jurisdictions in which they are authorized to promote their products or services.
Ads promoting or offering to sell cannabis remain prohibited, with the exception of topical hemp-derived CBD products containing 0.3% THC or less, the US federal limit.
Advertisers cannot target customers under the age of 21, and landing pages must be categorized by age. Claims of efficacy, health benefits or advertisements depicting people using cannabis are also not allowed.
For Canadian brands, it seems little has changed, as the platform already allowed restricted cannabis advertising.
Similar to rules in the United States, Canadian cannabis advertisers must have a license from Health Canada and prior approval from Twitter and can only promote informational or brand preference content.
Advertising content that communicates prize or distribution information, offers a testimonial or endorsement, or features a person, character, or animal remains prohibited.
Despite these restrictions, this policy change makes Twitter the first major social network to allow cannabis advertising in the United States.
The other platforms still reluctant
Google recently – a little – opened up to advertise hemp products and CBD cosmetics in California, Colorado and Puerto Rico.
Facebook, which acquired Instagram in 2012 for US$1 billion, prohibits “attempts to buy, sell or trade in non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs and cannabis by individuals, manufacturers and retailers”, according to company rules. It allows advertisements for certain hemp products, but not for THC or CBD products.
On Instagram, the policy is similar, with the platform noting that it “does not allow individuals or organizations to use the platform to advertise or sell cannabis, regardless of the state or country of the seller. »
TikTok also severely censors all posts around cannabis and completely bans advertising, even by legal operators.
Reddit allows ads for “topical and non-edible hemp-derived products” in the United States.
