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Add your name: Tell the FEC you support strong rules on disclosure of internet campaign ads

Submit your comment: Tell the FEC to create strong disclosure rules for online campaign ads

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    Add your name: Tell the FEC you support strong rules on disclosure of internet campaign ads

    Comment to the Federal Election Commission:

    To protect our elections, the FEC’s Internet Communication Disclaimers rule should be comprehensive and modern, and take into account the ways that internet advertising is different from other forms of advertising.

    All internet campaign ads, including ads for issues as well as candidates, must be required to include either a full disclaimer or, if size or format makes a full disclaimer impractical, then a shortened disclaimer such as “Paid for by…” with a link that goes directly to a full disclaimer. The funder of an ad must be made explicit because most people do not bother clicking on links.

    The disclaimer rules should be in place as soon as possible. Dark money ads, Russian meddling, and corporate spending influenced the 2016 election, and without these rules in place, it will happen again in 2018.

    Finally, the FEC should make public copies of all paid internet political messages, as well as their funding sources and target audiences. This information should be made available online in one location that is easily searchable and downloadable. Libraries like this already exist for television advertising under the Communications Act of 1934. Similar rules for internet ads will ensure enforcement of laws against foreign meddling in our elections.

    Big corporations and Russian trolls have one thing in common: they are exploiting huge loopholes in campaign finance laws to undermine the democratic process.

    Right now there are no clear rules requiring online ads to show who paid for them. The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) is proposing rules to address this - and Friday is the deadline to tell them you want strong rules adopted.

    Add your name: The FEC must help Americans know who is behind the ads we see online.

    Most people know how Russian trolls and Trump allies secretly funded online ads seen by millions of people that helped influence the 2016 presidential election.

    But you may not know that in many congressional elections, big corporations have also spent lots of money buying online ads influencing voters to support their chosen candidates. Right now, most voters have no idea who is paying for these ads.

    Thanks to strong public pressure, the FEC is creating rules on internet campaign ad disclaimers. This could be our chance to ensure that the names of the people behind these online ads are made public before the 2018 elections.

    But the FEC's proposed rules are not strong enough. Their current draft wouldn't include many of the ads that helped Trump win in 2016. The FEC is taking public comments on the rulemaking, so we need to speak out now.

    Tell the FEC you support strong rules on disclosure of internet campaign ads.