Philea and EFA concerned about META bans on advertising for civil society and philanthropy
In official documents published at the end of September, Meta announced its decision to ban all advertising relating to political, party-political, electoral or social issues within the European Union from October 2025 on. The documents suggest that the vast majority of civil society ads, including those from philanthropic organisations, will be removed from Meta platforms. Philea and one of its key partners, the European Fundraising Association (EFA), are concerned about the devastating impact this decision will have on the capacity and finances of European civil society organisations (CSOs) and philanthropy, and call on Meta to reconsider its approach.
Meta argues that this decision is part of its efforts to implement new EU rules. The European Commission has indeed set new rules on transparency in political advertising, electoral rights and party financing through the Transparency & Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) Regulation, which came into force on 10 October 2025. However, the TTPA regulation did not intend to specifically target civil society, nor its communication campaigns and appeals for donations, advocacy campaigns and petitions, which do not fall within the scope of the regulation.
Meta has published a guide on its new policy (released 26 September 2025), in which it defines “political and social issues” and refers to communications on civil and social rights, environmental policy, health, immigration and political values and governance, among others. Such communications will hence be banned from Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s other networks. EFA and Philea consider that Meta’s decision to remove almost all ads on political (political in a wider sense going beyond party-political) and social issues is based on a too-broad interpretation of the European TTPA regulation.
The Meta ban would have a major impact on European philanthropy and civil society as a whole, which relies on maintaining open communications with the public to disseminate information about programmes and activities. It will also make it more difficult for CSOs to attract new members, volunteers and donors, especially at a time when these organisations face public budget cuts and, in some cases, other restrictive policies and regulations. Social media platforms are key intermediaries for CSOs.
The civil society sector under the lead of the EFA reached out to Meta and the European Commission to swiftly clarify the scope of the EU TTPA regulation in a firm manner. The European Commission has in the meantime published a press release with a link to guidelines clarifying the TTPA’s scope with a view to avoiding over-interpretation and unintended consequences, and to ensure effective implementation of the Regulation. These new guidelines offer step-by-step guidance on key aspects, such as identifying political advertisements and fulfilling transparency and due diligence obligations, but they do not seem to offer sufficient protection against over-interpretation and targeting of civil society by Meta and other platforms.
Philea and EFA call on Meta to review its overly strict interpretation of the TTPA regulation, and call on Meta and other platforms to preserve the integrity of public debates, and the protection of freedom of expression and information. EFA has released a statement on this subject as well.
Philea joins EFA’s call to the Commission to bring together all stakeholders to ensure a shared interpretation of the regulation that respects everyone’s rights and complies with the principles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (in particular Article 11: freedom of expression and information).
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