To: Federal Election Commission
Tell the FEC: Require Online Political Ads to Disclose Funders
The Russian government used Facebook and social media platforms to interfere with the 2016 election.
We need to use every lever at our disposal — including ending secret online political ads — to prevent that from happening again, and to ensure that Americans know the source of political messages.
The FEC should require online campaign ads to include disclaimers as to who is paying for them — just like is done for television and print advertisements.
Why is this important?
In the 2016 election, 65 percent of Americans identified the internet, or an online platform, as their leading source of information.
Yet our outdated transparency rules — which still include references to telegrams and typewriters — don't require adequate disclosure for online ads.
No matter if it’s organizations with ties to Russia or wealthy special interests at home, Americans have a right to know who is paying for online political ads.
More than three in four Americans — 78 percent — want full disclosure of who paid for political ads posted to social media platforms. That includes 80 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Independents.
It’s time for the FEC to make it happen.