Honest Ads Act

The Honest Ads Act (S. 1989, H.R. 4077) was a bill in the United States Senate intended to regulate online campaign advertisements by companies. The bill was proposed on October 19, 2017, as a response to Facebook's disclosure of Russia purchasing political ads during the 2016 United States presidential election.[1] The Honest Ads Act was eventually incorporated into the For the People Act, which has passed the House but stalled in the Senate during the 116th and 117th Congresses.[2][3]

Honest Ads Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleA bill to enhance transparency and accountability for online political advertisements by requiring those who purchase and publish such ads to disclose information about the advertisements to the public, and for other purposes.
Legislative history

Background and content

Political ads on television, newspapers, and on the radio are all currently required to disclose the names of those who paid for the advertisement under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, but this is not a requirement online. The bill would amend the 1971 law to make "reasonable efforts" to ensure ads are not purchased "directly or indirectly" by foreign countries. The legislation would require companies to disclose how advertisements were targeted as well as how much the ads cost.[4]

The Act was a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mark Warner (D-VA), and John McCain (R-AZ).[5][6] The companion version to S. 1989 in the United States House of Representatives, H.R. 4077, was sponsored by Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA).[7]

Reaction

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has argued against regulation as being too restrictive, in favor instead for self-regulation.[8] Facebook has publicly supported the bill,[9] although campaign transparency advocates have accused the company of lobbying against it.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Senators have a new plan to fix a major loophole that let Russia take advantage of Facebook and tech giants". Business Insider. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  2. Levine, Marianne (March 6, 2019). "McConnell won't allow vote on election reform bill". POLITICO. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  3. "Voting legislation blocked in Senate as Republicans unite for filibuster". NBC News. June 22, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  4. "John McCain is backing a digital transparency bill that probably would've gotten his 2008 campaign in trouble". Business Insider. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  5. "What You Need To Know About The Honest Ads Act". NPR.org. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  6. "America's tech giants have no political party to protect them". The Economist. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  7. Kilmer, Derek (October 19, 2017). "H.R.4077 – 115th Congress (2017–2018): Honest Ads Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  8. "Lobbying Group for Facebook and Google to Pitch Self-Regulation of Ads". Bloomberg.com. October 24, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  9. Merrill, Jeremy B. (January 9, 2020). "Facebook makes a decision: microtargeted, false political ads are fine". Quartz. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  10. Timmons, Heather; Kozlowska, Hanna (March 22, 2018). "Facebook's quiet battle to kill the first transparency law for online political ads". Quartz. Retrieved January 10, 2020.


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