Meta Releases New Policies On Alcohol, Gambling Ads In India

In a recent update by Meta, it has announced that Businesses in Asia Pacific and Latin American locations can run Alcohol and real money online gambling ads through Meta.

The update rolled out a few days back and it started on 27th August, 2024, which means now even in India Alcohol and Gambling ads can be seen on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

This update came as a shock since the Indian communication ministry bans all kinds of gambling, betting, harmful substances, and alcohol ads.

If you are from India, you might have seen the "Kingfisher sparkling water ad", and "Royal Stag water ad", do you really think they promote water bottles? 

Definitely No! These are called surrogate ads, where you have a different selling brand that promotes a different thing.

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Since, the update there has been a lot of confusion because the local laws and the update by Meta are pretty confusing, and in order to clear the confusion Meta released an official note stating:

1.  The note mentioned that the update they released was pretty unclear, and they support every country's local laws. 
2.  Though people will be able to run ads for such things, they will be controlled under local laws and Meta's Guidelines. 
3.  Age restriction will be in place, no alcohol or gambling ads can be shown to audiences under the age of 21. 
4. Lastly, they mentioned that no business can promote the overuse of products in a way that might harm people. 

What does this mean? Let me explain: 

Meta has mentioned, that if the local law has banned such ads, it will stay the same, which ultimately means that businesses might not be able to run ads effectively.

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But, on the other hand, surrogate ads in India are pretty common, which means businesses could still be able to run surrogate ads through Facebook ads. What was the reaction of the Indian communication ministry is still pretty unclear. 

Even the statement released by Meta was not so specific, We should probably wait for what the government speaks in such case. What are your opinions, comment them down and let's discuss!

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Until then, Happy Digital Learning 😍