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STORY: It's only just seen the return of a familiar face...

Now political ads are also coming back to the social network formerly known as Twitter.

X, as it’s now called, says it will allow candidates and parties to place advertising ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Before Elon Musk acquired the company in October, Twitter had banned all such content since 2019.

Then in January it started allowing so-called “cause-based ads”, which promote things like voter registration.

It said it later planned to expand the types of permitted political ads.

Now the network says it will ramp up its safety and elections team ahead of next year’s poll.

That follows questions about its readiness for the vote, after laying off many staff who worked on trust and safety.

The new move should allow X to raise revenue, at a time when many other advertisers have fled.

In the turmoil since Musk’s takeover, some firms have been concerned that their material could appear next to inappropriate content.

X says it will also create a global advertising transparency centre.

That’s meant to allow people to see which political ads are being promoted on the network, X says it will still prohibit ads that include false information or seek to undermine confidence in elections.