The Federal Election Commission is hesitating to implement new rules that would help better identify who is paying for political advertising online in time for the 2018 midterms.
“The commission has been reluctant to change the rules of the game in the middle of the election season, so that would be something we would want to seriously consider,” Chairwoman Caroline Hunter told reporters.
A delay by the FEC would probably leave the task of providing more transparency about who is seeking to shape public opinion online in the hands of tech companies.
Facebook, Google and Twitter have all promised clearer labeling of political ads that run on their sites after revelations that they hosted content from Russian operatives aimed at stoking social and political unrest in the 2016 presidential race.
However, the industry has indicated limited support for more regulation by the FEC, urging the commission to adopt rules that apply to all digital platforms.
Since November, the commission has been negotiating new disclosure requirements for small, character-limited online political ads as a way to thwart foreign influence on U.S. elections. The rules would apply only to ads paid for by a political committee or candidate or paid “express advocacy” ads that call directly for the election or defeat of a federal candidate.
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Vice Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic appointee, said the new rules need to be put in place as soon as possible.
“Are people really going to say, ‘Oh, it’s too late in the game to run a disclaimer now,’ ” she said. “Really? Really? I don’t really buy that.”
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“I would like to do more, but we’re not going to have four votes to do anything more than this very narrow rulemaking,” Weintraub said. “If we can make progress on the very narrow front, that’s better than not making progress at all.”
Legislation to help identify online political advertising is not faring much better in Congress.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Mark R. Warner (Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) are pushing legislation that would require tech companies to preserve copies of all politically themed ads that appear on their platforms. The proposed Honest Ads Act would go further than the FEC rules by imposing a host of new ad-transparency requirements on major web platforms. But it has yet to have a hearing.
“We need to get more public focus. We need to start pushing Republicans,” Klobuchar said in a recent interview. “The FEC may do it, but it seems they may only do it for candidate ads. But it’s a small percent of it.”
New federal rules on Facebook and Google ads may not be in place for 2018 midterms (WaPo)