The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for ‘Musk’ (Exclusive) - The Hollywood Reporter

Bleecker Street, the distributor of Alex Gibney's new four-hour documentary Musk, has been unable to buy paid advertising for the film's trailer on major social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and X.
The rejections have surprised Bleecker Street, which is internally working to understand why the ad was declined, according to a person familiar with the company's processes.
YouTube, TikTok and Meta each cited reasons related to "political content," though TikTok and Meta's policies barring campaign ads—Meta's stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal—appear aimed at election advertising rather than documentary trailers.
The trailer, which dropped Thursday, contains only a shot of a 2024 political rally and a reference to the 2024 election, elements common in many documentaries and not intended to promote a candidate; YouTube's rejection is especially unclear since it does permit campaign ads with proper disclosures.
Bleecker Street has appealed to all three companies: Meta has already denied its appeal, while TikTok and YouTube are still considering theirs. X has declined to engage on the film or accept advertising for any of the distributor's other upcoming releases.
The situation raises free speech concerns and, ironically, echoes the documentary's central theme, which examines how Musk—who bought X in 2022—attempts to control public conversation, including alleged suppression on his own platform; Musk opens in theaters on Oct. 9.