A bill that would require "paid for" labels on political ads posted on social media moved a step closer to becoming law.
Ward and Smith's government relations attorney Whitney Campbell Christensen has been working with the sponsors of House Bill 1065 to amend the bi-partisan legislation to address the concerns of online platforms. On June 12, she testified before the House Elections Committee before the committee narrowly passed the bill by a 12-11 vote.
As it stands, the bill requires disclosure of any paid political ads on "qualified digital communications" that have 100,000 or more U.S. visitors. Public websites, advertising networks, search engines, and web or digital applications, like Facebook, would be affected. Until now, online ads haven't been subjected to the same disclosure requirements as other ads in traditional media, like TV, radio, or print.
In her testimony to the committee, Christensen stated that "Facebook is 'completely comfortable' with the proposed legislation," which was scaled back since its filing, according to WRAL, a Raleigh-based TV station that quoted Christensen's testimony in a recent article.
The bill now heads to the House floor.
To find out more about this bill and read the full article, click here.
