UPDATED 21:21 EDT / MARCH 18 2018

EMERGING TECH

Report: Twitter set to be the latest company to ban crypto advertising

Twitter Inc. is set to join Facebook Inc. and Google LLC in banning advertising relating to cryptocurrencies, at least according to one report published Sunday.

Sky News claimed that Twitter is set to implement a new advertising policy in the next two weeks that will prohibit advertisements for initial coin offerings, token sales and cryptocurrency wallets globally. The report went on to claim that the ban may include cryptocurrency exchanges “with some limited exceptions” when the policy is launched, although what those exceptions are was not specified.

The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise given those that have made the same move. Facebook was the first social network of note to ban cryptocurrency-related advertising, including anything to do with bitcoin and initial coin offerings, in January. At the time, Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern said that “misleading or deceptive ads have no place on Facebook” and that the social networking giant wanted “people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception.”

Google joined the club last Wednesday, banning not only any advertising related to cryptocurrencies but also third-party advertising for a range of financial products as well. “We don’t have a crystal ball to know where the future is going to go with cryptocurrencies, but we’ve seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm that it’s an area that we want to approach with extreme caution,” a Google spokesperson said.

The moves to ban cryptocurrency advertising by all three may be a preemptive move ahead of possible government-level bans as a result on ongoing investigations into dubious ICOs in particular, such as the one currently underway by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Photo: Pixabay

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