Assembly Approves Governor’s Bill to Require More Disclosure of Digital Political Ads

Yesterday, the Assembly passed the Democracy Protection Act (A.9930), a Governor’s Program Bill that is intended “to protect the integrity of elections in the state by enhancing the disclosure requirements for digital political advertisements.” The measure, which was originally included in the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal, was approved unanimously in the Assembly.  Its prospects in the Senate are not clear.

The bill stems from federal inaction on Russian interference in U.S. elections. Recent investigations by a number of federal intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia conducted an effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. elections. During the campaign, Russian agents spread political disinformation through social media sites and using paid digital content.

Gov. Cuomo said:

“There is no logical reason that you would not require the same disclosure for advertising on social media.  Well, the internet companies don’t want to do it. Frankly either they’re part of the solution or they’re part of the problem. And we believe if the federal government is not going to act, let the states act.”

The bill would expand the definition of the term “political communication” in Election Law § 14-106 to include internet and digital political advertisements.

It would add a new Election Law § 14-106-a to require that all political communications disclose who paid for them via a “paid for by” statement, and provides that internet or digital ads are exempt from this requirement if they (because of their small size) are unable to include the “paid for by” to contain the “paid for by” statement but link to a web page where the “paid for by” statement is prominently displayed. The failure to comply with this disclosure requirement could result in a civil fine of up to $1,000 or the cost of the communication.

The bill would also require that a person or entity register as an independent expenditure committee with the State Board of Elections (SBOE) before purchasing an internet or digital ad that otherwise qualifies as an independent expenditure and targets 50 or more people.

It would also prohibit any foreign national, government, instrumentality or agent from registering as an independent expenditure committee, and provide that upon purchase of an independent expenditure, each TV and radio station and internet platform must require that the independent expenditure committee making such a purchase provide a copy of the registration form filed by the committee with the SBOE. Any television or radio station or internet platform that does not comply with this requirement could be fined up to $1,000 per violation.

Finally, online platforms, including social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, would be required to maintain and make available online for five years a record of any purchase of an independent expenditure made by any independent expenditure committee on the platform.

Read the Assembly’s press release, and news coverage of the bill from the Times Union, Gannett, the New York Post, Politico NY, and the New York Law Journal.