Our moderation team has received a number of questions regarding political ads on SB Nation’s team communities. In the past, Vox Media did not allow political advertising. That policy was modified in April 2023, and Vox Media now allows “candidate and party-specific advertising, and issue or advocacy-related advertising” as long as the advertising is a direct buy from Vox Media, within some specific guidelines.
Here are the specifics:
Vox Media will not accept political advertising that:
- Misleads, spreads false information, is deceptive or misrepresentative
- Incites violence, intimidates, harasses, or threatens
- Promotes discrimination or inequity
- Serves or supports an individual or organizations that have demonstrated repeated or sustained behavior counter to our advertising policies
- Does not clearly identify who paid for the ad
- Does not clearly state whether or not it was authorized by a candidate and/or organization
- Does not comply with all applicable federal election laws, FEC regulations and other applicable state and local laws and regulations
Vox Media reserves the right to verify the original funding source of any advertisement and to reject any advertisement at the company’s sole discretion.
If a candidate, party, or PAC makes a direct ad buy with Vox Media that is not disqualified via any of the above points, the ad may appear on Vox Media’s sites, including SB Nation’s communities.
We will leave comments open on this article so we can answer any questions you may have on this policy or the ads you’ve seen on SB Nation’s communities. The comments will be moderated according to our community guidelines, which you can review here.
