NEW PUSH ON AD TRANSPARENCY
A bipartisan group of three senators reintroduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at increasing the transparency of election advertisements on social media platforms, with the goal of preventing foreign actors from influencing U.S. elections.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced the Honest Ads Act, which would require online platforms to make “all reasonable efforts” to ensure that foreign entities are not buying political ads.
It would also require all digital platforms with at least 50 million monthly viewers to maintain a public file of all election-related communication purchased by an entity or group that spends over $500 on their platform.
The public file would need to include the contact information of the purchaser, a description of the targeted audience, the rates charged and the dates and times the ads were published.
The bill would also expand the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act’s definition of “electioneering communication” to include paid internet and digital advertisements.
