Deterring foreign interference in U.S. elections

This secrecy would not be possible on broadcast. While social media companies have proposed new transparency measures, the Honest Ads Act would solidify disclosure requirements by moving the law into the twenty-first century. The bipartisan legislation aims to ensure that digital political ads are subject to the same transparency requirements that apply to similar ads run on any other medium. The bill would shine a spotlight on some of the digital advertising practices outlined in the Project DATA study by creating a public footprint. 

“As this peer-reviewed study demonstrates, secretive groups were able to run tens of thousands of digital political ads without detection because of massive loopholes in our campaign finance laws,” said Brendan Fischer, director, federal reform program at CLC. “This study demonstrates the importance of Congress addressing campaign finance law’s internet blind spot. The protection of American elections from foreign interference cannot be left to voluntary measures by tech companies.”

One-sixth of the “suspicious” advertisers turned out to be Kremlin-linked Russian groups, according to Project DATA’s analysis of information released by the House Intelligence Committee. Additionally, the peer-reviewed study found that voters in swing states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were disproportionately targeted with ads featuring divisive issues like guns, immigration, and race relations. These included ads that raised anger or fear, or emphasized the divides between subgroups of the population. Some of these ads were sponsored by nonprofits that did not file a disclosure report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about the source of their funding.

“We have seen clear evidence that when left unchecked, foreign actors seeking to affect U.S. politics will use — and abuse — any tool at their disposal. It is time for digital platforms to be held to the same common-sense, simple rules that govern disclosure of television and radio ads,” said Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee. “The 21st century realities of online political advertising have overwhelmed our country’s capacity to hold rule-breakers accountable. The Honest Ads Act would begin to fix this problem.” 

CLC notes that the Honest Ads Act was endorsed last week by Facebook and Twitter, but has yet to receive a hearing.

— Read more in Closing the Digital Loopholes that Pave the Way for Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections (CLC, Project DATA, Issue One, April 2018); and Young Mie Kim et al., “The Stealth Media? Groups and Targets behind Divisive Issue Campaigns on Facebook,” Political Communication (forthcoming)