Meta, the newly named parent company of the social media giant Facebook, announced Tuesday that early next year, it will no longer allow its advertisers to target ads on topics related to politics or other sensitive issues, including religion.

The Wall Street Journal reports the company said as of Jan. 19, it will no longer allow advertisers to highly personalize their messages to users on topics including politics, race, health, religion, and sexual orientation.

Meta said it was a difficult decision because it believes the best advertising is personalized. Facebook's ad tools helped reap the company $86 billion in revenue last year, the newspaper reported.

The new advertiser policy will be enforced on all of the company's apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook's Audience Network.

In a blog post, Meta Vice President Graham Mudd wrote: "Starting January 19, 2022, we will remove Detailed Targeting options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive, such as options referencing causes, organizations, or public figures that relate to health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation."

Mudd also included examples of these sensitive issues:

• Sexual orientation (e.g., "same-sex marriage" and "LGBT culture")


• Religious practices and groups (e.g., "Catholic Church" and "Jewish holidays")
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• Political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations, and figures
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