Twitter announced this week that it will allow cannabis companies to advertise on its platform in the United States, marking a significant change in the
giant’s policies. that it will “permit approved Cannabis (including CBD– cannabinoids) advertisers to target the United States” in areas where cannabis has been made legal.Those advertisers will, however, be subject to a number of restrictions, including: “Advertisers must be licensed by the appropriate authorities, and pre-authorized by Twitter; Advertisers may only target jurisdictions in which they are licensed to promote these products or services online; Advertisers may not promote or offer the sale of Cannabis (including CBD– cannabinoids); Exception: Ads for topical (non-ingestible) hemp-derived CBD topical products containing equal to or less than the 0.3% THC government-set threshold; Advertisers are responsible for complying with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and advertising guidelines; [and] Advertisers may not target customers under the age of 21.”
The announcement marks the latest policy shift for Twitter under its new CEO Elon Musk, who is known to be pot-friendly.
Cannabis Industry Reacts to Twitter
, the policy change was met with a round of applause from a number of cannabis industry representatives.“Nice news out of Twitter for cannabis,” Emily Paxhia, managing director and co-founder of the AdvisorShares Poseidon Dynamic Cannabis ETF, said in a tweet late on Tuesday.
Back in April, Paxhia urged Musk to open up the platform to marijuana advertising.
“well, hello there @elonmusk — I know one industry that could be a good source of ad revenue for your newest acquisition… #cannabis all day, baby,” Paxhia
at the time.Other cannabis industry executives celebrated the news on Tuesday night.
“Kudos to @twitter for being the first major social network to welcome Cannabis advertisements,”
cannabis public relations maven . “We’re thrilled to be working closely with the team over there to implement this program.”“This has been in the works behind the scenes for a while. Cannabis is a leading topic on @Twitter and should be a big channel for #cannabis advertising, depending on the details of the program. #progress,”
Patrick Rea of the venture capital firm Poseidon Garden Ventures.Twitter Cannabis Advertising Policy in Canada
Twitter’s ban on the “the promotion of drugs and drug paraphernalia” has long been a global prohibition, but the change in policy will carve out exceptions for both the U.S. and Canada.
In Canada, Twitter says it “permit[s] approved cannabis advertisers to target Canada, subject to the following restrictions”: “Advertisers must be licensed by Health Canada and pre-authorized by Twitter; [and] Advertisers may only promote informational or brand-preference content; Advertisers may only target jurisdictions in which they are licensed to promote these products or services online.”
As an example of the last restriction, Twitter said that “advertisers may not promote such content online in Quebec or to Quebec residents.”
In addition, Twitter said that advertisers in Canada “are responsible for complying with all laws and regulations,” followed by strict prohibitions such “advertisers are prohibited from promoting cannabis content,” “by communicating information about cannabis price or distribution” and much more.
Social Media Advertising Trends for Cannabis & CBD
Twitter isn’t the only tech giant that has relaxed its advertising restrictions around the hemp and cannabis industry. Just last month, Google
on CBD advertising.Google’s
posted in December showed that its ad policy will be updated to “allow FDA-approved pharmaceuticals containing cannabidiol (CBD) and topical, hemp-derived CBD products with THC content of 0.3% or less in California, Colorado, and Puerto Rico.”Only loosening advertising restrictions for three territories is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the sweeping cannabis advertising policy change that many advocates and business professionals believe is necessary.
All in all, this latest policy update by Twitter has the industry waiting to see if other tech and social media giants like Meta and TikTok will also consider loosening advertising restrictions for legal cannabis companies. If so, what does that mean for content creators and ancillary businesses who are constantly facing censorship and shadow banning on social media?
Overall, it’s an interesting time to keep an eye on the developments of cannabis advertising on platforms like Twitter, Google and possibly more to come.