Do You Think Online Political Ads Should be Regulated?

A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced Thursday that they will introduce a bill to strengthen disclosure requirements for online political ads like those used by Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election, as reported by Axios.

What’s the story?

McCain, along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mark Warner (D-VA), are planning to introduce the Honest Ads Act so that paid internet and digital political advertisements are subject to the same regulation as television, radio, cable, and satellite ads.

The bill would also:

• Require digital platforms to maintain a public file of all political ads it sells beyond certain thresholds.

• The file would include a digital copy of the ad, a description of the audience it targets, the number of views generated, the dates and times of publication, its cost, and the purchaser’s contract information.

• Require online platforms to make reasonable efforts to ensure that foreign individuals and entities aren’t buying political ads to influence American voters.

We’ll have more details on the bill here at Countable once it’s formally introduced.

Why does it matter?

The Honest Ads Act will be the first of many proposals on the legislative and regulatory fronts aimed at preventing online platforms like Facebook from being used by foreign actors to influence a U.S. election.

What do you think?

Does the federal government need to increase its regulation of political ads on social media and online? Would more federal regulation of political ads present a slippery slope toward censoring political speech? Tell your reps using the Take Action button and join the conversation in the comments below.

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— Eric Revell

RELATED READING

• McCain’s latest surprise: Regulate Facebook — Axios

• Gotta Influence ‘em All: Russia Used Pokémon Go In Meddling — Countable

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