Facebook announced that, effective March 4, 2021, it is lifting its ban on political, electoral, and social issue advertising in the United States.  Facebook had put the ban in place, after the Presidential election, "to avoid confusion or abuse following Election Day." 

Facebook explained that it requires authorization and transparency not just for political and electoral advertising, but for social issue advertising as well -- and that its systems do not distinguish between these categories.  Facebook said, "We’ve heard a lot of feedback about this and learned more about political and electoral ads during this election cycle. As a result, we plan to use the coming months to take a closer look at how these ads work on our service to see where further changes may be merited." 

As part of its announcement, Facebook also provided additional guidance about its political advertising approval process.