Snapchat empowers self-expression, including about politics. But political advertising that appears on Snapchat has to be transparent, lawful, and right for our users.

These Political Advertising Policies apply to all political advertisements served by Snap, including election-related ads, advocacy ads, and issue ads.

• Election-related ads include ads about candidates or parties for public office, ballot measures or referendums, political action committees, and ads that urge people to vote or register to vote.

• Issue or advocacy ads are ads concerning issues or organizations that are the subject of debate on a local, national, or global level, or of public importance. They include ads about abortion, immigration, the environment, education, discrimination, and guns.

Political advertising must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including all national election laws, copyright law, defamation law, and (where applicable) Federal Election Commission regulations and state or local laws and regulations. Complying with those laws and regulations will be the sole responsibility of the advertiser.

All political advertising must include a “paid for by” message in the ad that is followed by the name of the paying person or entity. Snap may also require a “paid for by” disclosure on ad content that links to political content, ad content for political merchandise, or in other cases in Snap’s sole discretion. In the United States, electoral ads must state whether or not the ad was authorized by a candidate or organization, and election ads not authorized by the candidate must include contact information for the sponsoring organization.

Political advertising must comply with Snap's Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and Advertising Policies. That means, among other things:

• No content that harasses, intimidates, or threatens.

• No content that is misleading, deceptive, impersonates any person or entity, or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity.

• No content that violates the publicity, privacy, copyright, or other intellectual property rights of a third party.

• No content that features graphic violence.

We encourage political advertisers to be positive. But we don't categorically ban “attack” ads; expressing disagreement with or campaigning against a candidate or party is generally permissible if it meets our other guidelines. That said, political ads must not include attacks relating to a candidate's personal life.

Political advertisements served by Snap may not be paid for directly or indirectly by non-resident foreign nationals or entities -- in other words, by people or entities that aren’t residents of the country where the ad will run.