This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

46937 

Vol. 82, No. 194 

Tuesday, October 10, 2017 

1See Internet Communication Disclaimers, 76 FR 

63567 (Oct. 13, 2011). 

2The Commission is currently proposing 

amendments intended to modernize a number of 

regulations, including 11 CFR 100.26. To review 

those proposals and other Commission rulemaking 

documents, visit http://www.fec.gov/fosers, 

reference REG 2013–01. 

3 Documents related to Commission advisory 

opinions are available on the Commission’s Web 

site. 

4See, e.g., Contents of Disclosure Statements. 

Advertisement Disclosure, Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, 

sec. 18450.4(b)(3)(G)(1) (California small internet ad 

disclosure rule discussed in ANPRM). 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Part 110 

[Notice 2017–12] 

Internet Communication Disclaimers; 

Reopening of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Reopening of comment period. 

SUMMARY: On October 13, 2011, the 

Federal Election Commission published 

an Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (‘‘ANPRM’’) seeking 

comment on whether to begin a 

rulemaking to revise its regulations 

concerning disclaimers on certain 

internet communications and, if so, on 

what changes should be made to those 

rules. On October 18, 2016, the 

Commission reopened the comment 

period to receive additional comments 

in light of legal and technological 

developments since that document was 

published. The Commission has 

decided to again reopen the comment 

period to receive additional comments 

in light of developments since that 

document was published. The 

Commission is not seeking comment on, 

nor does it propose changes to, any 

other rules adopted by the Commission 

in the Internet Communications 

rulemaking of 2006. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

ANPRM published October 13, 2011 (76 

FR 63567) is reopened. Comments must 

be received on or before November 9, 

2017. 

ADDRESSES: All comments must be in 

writing. Commenters are encouraged to 

submit comments electronically via the 

Commission’s Web site at www.fec.gov/ 

netdisclaimers or at http://www.fec.gov/ 

fosers, reference REG 2011–02. 

Alternatively, commenters may submit 

comments in paper form, addressed to 

the Federal Election Commission, Attn.: 

Neven F. Stipanovic, Acting Assistant 

General Counsel, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463. 

Each commenter must provide, at a 

minimum, his or her first name, last 

name, city, state, and zip code. All 

properly submitted comments, 

including attachments, will become part 

of the public record, and the 

Commission will make comments 

available for public viewing on the 

Commission’s Web site and in the 

Commission’s Public Records Office. 

Accordingly, commenters should not 

provide in their comments any 

information that they do not wish to 

make public, such as a home street 

address, personal email address, date of 

birth, phone number, social security 

number, driver’s license number, or any 

information that is restricted from 

disclosure, such as trade secrets or 

commercial or financial information 

that is privileged or confidential. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Neven F. Stipanovic, Acting Assistant 

General Counsel, or Ms. Jessica 

Selinkoff, Attorney, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 13, 2011, the Commission 

published in the Federal Register an 

ANPRM seeking comment on whether 

and how to revise the rules at 11 CFR 

110.11 regarding disclaimers on internet 

communications.1 Specifically, the 

Commission was considering whether to 

modify the disclaimer requirements for 

certain internet communications, or to 

provide exceptions thereto, consistent 

with the Federal Election Campaign Act, 

52 U.S.C. 30101–46 (‘‘the Act’’). The 

Commission received seven substantive 

comments in response to the ANPRM. 

All but one of the commenters agreed 

that the Commission should update the 

disclaimer rules through a rulemaking, 

though commenters differed on how the 

Commission should do so. 

As discussed in the ANPRM, a 

‘‘disclaimer’’ is a statement that must 

appear on certain communications to 

identify who paid for it and, where 

applicable, whether the communication 

was authorized by a candidate. 52 

U.S.C. 30120(a); 11 CFR 110.11. With 

some exceptions, the Act and 

Commission regulations require 

disclaimers for public communications: 

(1) made by a political committee; (2) 

that expressly advocate the election or 

defeat of a clearly identified federal 

candidate; or (3) that solicit a 

contribution. U.S.C. 30120(a); 11 CFR 

110.11(a). While the term ‘‘public 

communication’’ generally does not 

include internet communications, it 

does include ‘‘communications placed 

for a fee on another person’s Web site.’’ 

11 CFR 100.26.2 In addition to these 

internet public communications, 

‘‘electronic mail of more than 500 

substantially similar communications 

when sent by a political committee . . . 

and all Internet Web sites of political 

committees available to the general 

public’’ also must have disclaimers. 11 

CFR 110.11(a). 

Commission regulations set forth 

certain exceptions to the general 

disclaimer requirements. For example, 

disclaimers are not required for 

communications placed on ‘‘[b]umper 

stickers, pins, buttons, pens, and similar 

small items upon which the disclaimer 

cannot be conveniently printed.’’ 11 

CFR 110.11(f)(1)(i) (the ‘‘small items 

exception’’). Nor are disclaimers 

required for ‘‘[s]kywriting, water towers, 

wearing apparel, or other means of 

displaying an advertisement of such a 

nature that the inclusion of a disclaimer 

would be impracticable.’’ 11 CFR 

110.11(f)(1)(ii) (the ‘‘impracticable 

exception’’). 

As discussed in the ANPRM, some 

internet advertisements are so characterlimited that providing all the disclaimer 

information required by the Act may 

take up much of the available ad 

characters. See Advisory Opinion 2010– 

19 (Google) (describing 95-character 

search result advertisements); cf. 

Advisory Opinion Request 2011–09 

(Facebook) (describing several 

categories of advertisements ranging 

from zero to 160 characters).3 However, 

the ANPRM noted that technological 

options may allow for the display of 

disclaimers when a user ‘‘hovers’’ or 

‘‘rolls’’ over the advertisement, or on the 

landing page to which the user is taken 

after clicking the advertisement.4


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46938 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 194 / Tuesday, October 10, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

5 Documents related to Commission enforcement 

matters under review (MURs) are available on the 

Commission’s Web site. 

6See Electronic Media, Requirements, Md. Code 

Regs. 33.13.07.02(D)(2)(b). 

7See Internet Communication Disclaimers; 

Reopening of Comment Period and Notice of 

Hearing, 81 FR 71647 (Oct. 18, 2016). In the 

document, the Commission also indicated it would 

hold a hearing on February 1, 2017. However, 

because few commenters expressed interest in the 

hearing, the Commission postponed it. 

8Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310, 368 (2010) 

(quoting First Nat’l Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 

U.S. 765, 792 n.32 (1978)). 

9See, e.g., Advisory Opinion 2017–05 (Great 

America PAC et al.) (concerning whether 

committees’ Twitter profile pages require 

disclaimers and how committees may use Twitter 

handles in disclaimers). 

After publication of the ANPRM, the 

Commission considered these issues in 

new factual contexts. See, e.g., Advisory 

Opinion Request 2013–18 (Revolution 

Messaging) (asking whether ‘‘banner 

ads’’ viewed on mobile phones, either in 

Web site or app, required disclaimers); 

MUR 6911 (Frankel) (considering 

whether candidates’ and political 

parties’ Twitter profiles and individual 

tweets required disclaimers).5 Also, 

after the ANPRM was published, at least 

one additional state joined California in 

adopting regulations to address small 

internet advertisements.6

In light of these and other legal and 

technological developments, the 

Commission reopened the comment 

period on October 18, 2016, seeking 

comments addressing persons’ 

experiences in complying with (and 

receiving disclosure from) these state 

rules as well as other disclosure 

regimes.7 The Commission sought 

comments that addressed: 

• How campaigns, parties, and other 

political committees, voters, and others 

disseminate and receive electoral 

information via the internet and other 

technologies, including any data or 

experiences in purchasing, selling, or 

distributing small or character-limited 

advertisements on Web sites, apps, and 

mobile devices; 

• any challenges in complying with 

the existing disclaimer rules as applied 

to internet communications; 

• the technological or other 

characteristics that might define a 

‘‘small’’ internet advertisement; 

• how a disclaimer requirement or 

exception for ‘‘small’’ internet 

advertisements might be implemented; 

• the informational benefits of 

disclaimers on internet communications 

to assist voters in identifying the source 

of advertising so they are better ‘‘able to 

evaluate the arguments to which they 

are being subjected’’; 8

• the informational benefits of 

disclaimers on internet 

communications, including Web sites 

and social media pages, to avoid voter 

confusion and reduce the incidence of 

solicitations that appear to be for 

candidates but are actually for noncandidate committees; and 

• the extent to which the 

Commission’s consideration of 

disclaimer requirements should take 

into account current or anticipated 

models of internet advertising. 

The Commission received six 

comments during the reopened 

comment period, all but one of which 

supported updating the disclaimer 

rules. Commenters, however, differed 

on whether the Commission should 

adopt technological modifications to 

disclaimer requirements for all online 

advertisements or exempt paid 

advertisements on social media 

platforms from the disclaimer 

requirements. 

Since the close of the latest comment 

period, the Commission has again 

considered disclaimer requirements as 

applied to online communications by 

American citizens.9 In light of recent 

developments since the close of the 

latest comment period, the Commission 

is interested in receiving further 

comments on whether and how to revise 

its rules regarding disclaimers on 

certain internet communications. The 

Commission seeks additional comments 

addressing the bullet points above and 

any issues discussed in the ANPRM; the 

Commission is particularly interested in 

comments addressing advertisements on 

internet-enabled applications and 

devices (such as apps, eReaders, and 

wearable technology). Given the speed 

at which technological advances are 

developing, the Commission welcomes 

comments that address possible 

regulatory approaches that might 

minimize the need for serial revisions to 

the Commission’s rules in order to adapt 

to new or emerging technologies. 

Dated: October 3, 2017. 

On behalf of the Commission. 

Steven T. Walther, 

Chairman, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21706 Filed 10–6–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2017–0952; Product 

Identifier 2017–CE–028–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Stemme AG 

Gliders 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to supersede 

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2017–10– 

11 for Stemme AG Model Stemme S10– 

VT gliders (type certificate previously 

held by Stemme GmbH & Co. KG). This 

proposed AD results from mandatory 

continuing airworthiness information 

(MCAI) originated by an aviation 

authority of another country to identify 

and correct an unsafe condition on an 

aviation product. The MCAI describes 

the unsafe condition as certain propeller 

front transmission gear wheels having 

insufficient material strength because of 

improper heat treatment during 

manufacturing. We are issuing this 

proposed AD to require actions to 

address the unsafe condition on these 

products and to add Stemme AG Model 

Stemme S 12 to the applicability. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by November 24, 

2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact STEMME AG, 

Flugplatzstrasse F2, Nr. 6–7, D–15344 

Strausberg, Germany; telephone: +49 (0) 

3341 3612–0, fax: +49 (0) 3341 3612–30; 

Internet: https://www.stemme.com. You 

may review copies of the referenced 

service information at the FAA, Policy 

and Innovation Division, 901 Locust, 


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