Twitter is investigating whether its “very, very sad” trending stories can be used as ad campaigns.
The company said it is taking “immediate action” to prevent abuse.
It’s not clear if these stories are part of an ongoing investigation, or if the company has opened up the option to ban stories. “
We are looking into whether certain stories can and should be used for ads.”
It’s not clear if these stories are part of an ongoing investigation, or if the company has opened up the option to ban stories.
The search engine’s announcement comes a day after it announced it was suspending the Twitter Ads API, which allows advertisers to target ads to users using its service.
The news came as the company faced pressure from Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups over the use of the service to target people based on their political views.
The announcement follows an internal investigation by Twitter into the use by advertisers of its data and the platform’s policies.
A spokesperson told Recode it is “investigating” whether these stories can or should be advertised as ads.
The spokesperson also declined to say what actions the company is taking.
This is an ongoing internal investigation.
We take the matter very seriously.
Twitter said it had reached out to all of the news organizations to learn more about what the company was investigating and how it will address the issue.
The investigation comes at a time of increased scrutiny on the platform after reports surfaced in January that advertisers were targeting users based on political views, including anti-LGBTQ positions.
The Washington Post reported that an ad placed in the trending topics section of an article about a Muslim woman was used to target an anti-Trump protester and was seen by thousands of people on the social network.