Twitter to allow marijuana advertising amid struggle for revenue
Christopher Hutton
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Twitter will now allow the advertising of marijuana, a reflection of the platform’s loosening standards under Elon Musk’s leadership.
The company updated its policies on Wednesday to allow cannabis ads to run on its services in the states where it is legal. While other social platforms have allowed marijuana-adjacent products, such as cannabidiol, also known as CBD, to be advertised on their platforms, Twitter has adopted the most explicit advertising opportunity for marijuana users within federal guidelines.
The change comes as Twitter struggles to establish consistent revenue. It was also likely influenced by CEO Elon Musk’s propensity for the drug.
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The new policy allows CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, companies to advertise their brands and provide informational content. The advertisements will not allow the direct sale of marijuana-related products except for topical CBD products “containing equal to or less than the 0.3% THC government-set threshold.” The advertisers must also be licensed by the authorities and are not allowed to target users 21 or younger.
Musk has admitted to being a marijuana user, even smoking it on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Twitter’s approval is the largest approval of marijuana content by a tech company to date. Meta allows the promotion of some hemp products but not THC or CBD. Google only allows FDA-approved pharmaceuticals containing CBD and “topical, hemp-derived CBD products with THC content of 0.3% or less.”
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Advertisers have been hesitant to post ads on Twitter due to Musk’s unpredictability and approach to speech. This has led to a 40% decrease in revenue year-over-year, placing the company in an uncomfortable place because it is forced to help pay off Musk’s $13 billion debt as part of his acquisition of the company.
Twitter has changed its advertising policies in other ways that may help with revenue. For example, it reversed its ban on political advertising.