Why it matters: The change comes amid controversy over Hulu’s decision to drop political issue ads on guns and abortion from Democratic groups.

These issues have become central to Democratic midterm messaging, and Disney’s decision to drop ads on Hulu has prompted complaints of censorship.

Details: Hulu’s ad guidelines will now match those used for Disney cable networks such as ESPN and FX, allowing problem and candidate ads to run on the service as long as they align with Disney’s general ad standards.

Yes, but: The company said it still reserves the right to ask customers for ad changes or alternative creative that aligns with its standards.

Be smart: These are different ad templates compared to those used by Disney’s broadcast networks, such as ABC and local ABC affiliates. Broadcasters are required by law to accept ads from political candidates on any issue, no matter how controversial it may be.

Broadcasters are prohibited by law from rejecting a political candidate’s ad based on its content, with the exception of something like vulgarity.

Between the lines: Hulu has banned issue advertising for years, though it has accepted candidate advertising. But now that Disney has majority control of the streamer, it’s moving to integrate Hulu’s policies to match Disney’s.

“Following a thorough review of ad policies across linear networks and streaming platforms over the past several months, Disney is now aligning Hulu’s ad policies to be consistent with the Company’s general cable entertainment and sports networks and ESPN+,” said Disney. “Hulu will now accept candidates and run ads covering a wide range of policy positions, but reserves the right to request modifications or alternative creative, consistent with industry standards.” Disney said it won’t accept political or alcohol ads when it introduces an ad-supported tier for Disney+ later this year, in an effort to keep the service family-friendly. According to its statement on the Hulu decision, ESPN+ will accept political ads.

Zoom out: The saga comes amid a year of political turmoil for Disney. The company’s CEO faced backlash from employees after initially refusing to talk about Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which has since been signed into law.

Conservatives later took aim at Disney’s decision to speak out against the bill, following a backlash.

The big picture: The 2022 midterms are expected to be the first campaign cycle where connected television (CTV) or streaming ads will take a significant market share of political ad spending.

According to the latest data from AdImpact, an advertising analytics company, about $2.9 billion has already been spent on the US midterm elections.

Data: AdImpact; Chart: Will Chase/Axios What to watch: Most major media companies have no incentive to block ads associated with a particular ideology, especially given how lucrative they can be.

But because these kinds of policies are difficult to implement without upsetting one side or the other, some companies — including Twitter and TikTok — have chosen not to sell political advertising at all.

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