The Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted on Wednesday to move forward with new rules that would bump up disclosure requirements for certain political ads on platforms like Facebook and Google.
The move comes as spending on the 2018 midterms is ramping up and as both lawmakers and digital platforms look to prevent continued foreign influence in American elections.
Any rule change may not be in place for the bulk of this election year as well, and last week FEC Republican Chairwoman Caroline Hunter expressed apprehension about “changing the rules of the game” midway through an election cycle.
At the meeting, commissioners presented two proposals that would require new disclaimers on “express advocacy” ads on digital platforms. “Express advocacy” ads advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate and makeup just a small percentage of online ads.
The commission voted 4-0 to open 60 days for public comments and have scheduled a June 27 public hearing on the matter.
The two proposals vary in their requirements for the size and content of disclaimers, among other differences. One proposal would also define the term “internet communication.” The measures would also only cover a small portion of political advertising on digital platforms and likely not affect the types of ads that allowed for the harnessing of Facebook and other digital platforms by Russian actors in 2016.
However, Democrat Ellen Weintraub, the FEC’s vice chairwoman, called the commission’s vote a “step in the right direction” for transparency of digital advertising, a medium that is expected to be increasingly experimented with since the Trump campaign successfully harnessed it in 2016.
Political spending on digital ads is projected to grow by 2,539 percent between 2014 and 2018, according to a recent study.
“I think it will be an improvement,” Weintraub said of the FEC’s proposals. “It will bring greater transparency to political ads. It’s not going to solve all the problems that we saw in the last election.”
Despite butting heads in the process of drafting the proposed rules, commissioners noted the urgency to create rules to regulate the growing realm of digital advertising.
“It has taken another event like Watergate to make everyone realize we have to act in a bipartisan [effort] in order to do something,” said Commissioner Steven Walther, an independent.
Republican Commissioner Matthew Petersen said they were “threading the needle,” trying not to overregulate but also working toward greater transparency.
“We have a strong interest in ensuring that we are not impeding the further development of the internet and technology as a means of allowing and facilitating political communication,” Petersen said, “but at the same time ensuring that the disclaimer requirements … are also being met.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.