He likened Snap's ad policy to that of cable TV networks, which are allowed to block ads they deem unacceptable. This typically means blocking ads that make demonstrably false assertions.

It makes sense that Snapchat would continue to run political ads given past successes. A voter registration campaign during the 2018 US midterms got 418,000 people to register within just two weeks, for instance. While candidate ads aren't exactly the same, there's a good chance that many users are seeing and tapping on those ads -- good news for both political engagement and Snap's bottom line.

This also helps Snapchat distinguish itself versus Facebook's laissez-faire policy and Twitter's outright ban on political ads. No, it probably won't lead to people flocking to Snapchat from other social networks, but it does give Snap something to crow about. And if nothing else, it shows that it is possible to find a middle ground in online political advertising.