Meta Brings Advanced Brand Safety Controls to Threads Advertising

Meta is rolling out expanded brand safety tools for advertisers on Threads, bringing third-party block list support to the platform. Previously available only on Facebook and Instagram, these controls allow brands to ensure their ads do not appear alongside objectionable or controversial content.

How Block Lists Work

Block lists, created by brand safety and measurement providers, are independently verified listings of approved ad placements. Rather than manually excluding profiles or content categories, advertisers can apply these pre-vetted lists automatically. For Threads, Meta has partnered with four established brand safety providers — DoubleVerify, IAS, Scope3, and Zefr — to facilitate this process. Advertisers can layer these controls on top of Meta’s existing inventory filters or use them independently.

Meta claims that over 99% of content appearing next to ads across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads is brand safe, as measured by its third-party partners. However, this figure warrants some scrutiny. Nearly every major platform — including Reddit and X — reports similar 99% brand safety scores. Critics point out that platforms like Meta operate as “walled gardens,” meaning independent verifiers cannot directly crawl their systems and must rely on data that the platforms themselves provide. This raises questions about how representative those figures truly are.

Expanded Verification Partners

Beyond block lists, Meta is also broadening its partner ecosystem. Advertisers will soon be able to work with Channel Factory and Protected by Mediaocean for additional brand safety verification and suitability controls on Threads, with these integrations expected in the coming months.

Together, these updates give Threads advertisers stronger tools to protect brand reputation and maintain greater confidence in where their promotions appear.