I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2592 
To enhance transparency and accountability for online political advertisements 
by requiring those who purchase and publish such ads to disclose infor-
mation about the advertisements to the public, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2019 
Mr. KILMER (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. FITZPATRICK, 
Miss RICE of New York, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. CRIST, Mr. KATKO, Mr. 
SUOZZI, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. 
SCHNEIDER, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. PHIL-
LIPS, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. PETERS, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puer-
to Rico, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. BACON, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. 
STAUBER, Mr. LUJA´N, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra-
tion 
A BILL 
To enhance transparency and accountability for online polit-
ical advertisements by requiring those who purchase and 
publish such ads to disclose information about the adver-
tisements to the public, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honest Ads Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to enhance the integrity 
of American democracy and national security by improving 
disclosure requirements for online political advertisements 
in order to uphold the United States Supreme Court’s 
well-established standard that the electorate bears the 
right to be fully informed. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) On April 18, 2019, Special Counsel Robert 
Mueller released a report titled ‘‘Report on the In-
vestigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 
Presidential Election’’ which concluded that ‘‘the 
Russian government interfered in the 2016 presi-
dential election in sweeping and systemic fashion.’’. 
The report details that Russia interfered in the 2016 
presidential election principally through two oper-
ations: first, through a Russian government spon-
sored social media influence campaign, and second, 
by Russian intelligence ‘‘computer-intrusion’’ oper-
ations against those associated with both presi-
dential campaigns. 
(2) On September 6, 2017, the Nation’s largest 
social media platform disclosed that between June 
2015 and May 2017, Russian entities purchased 
$100,000 in political advertisements, publishing 
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roughly 3,000 ads linked to fake accounts associated 
with the Internet Research Agency, a pro-Kremlin 
organization. According to the company, the ads 
purchased focused ‘‘on amplifying divisive social and 
political messages . . .’’. 
(3) In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform 
Act became law, establishing disclosure requirements 
for political advertisements distributed from a tele-
vision or radio broadcast station or provider of cable 
or satellite television. In 2003, the Supreme Court 
upheld regulations on electioneering communications 
established under the Act, noting that such require-
ments ‘‘provide the electorate with information and 
insure that the voters are fully informed about the 
person or group who is speaking.’’. 
(4) According to a study from Borrell Associ-
ates, in 2016, $1,415,000,000 was spent on online 
advertising, more than quadruple the amount in 
2012. 
(5) The reach of a few large internet plat-
forms—larger than any broadcast, satellite, or cable 
provider—has greatly facilitated the scope and effec-
tiveness of disinformation campaigns. For instance, 
the largest platform has over 210,000,000 American 
users—over 160,000,000 of them on a daily basis. 
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By contrast, the largest cable television provider has 
22,430,000 subscribers, while the largest satellite 
television provider has 21,000,000 subscribers. And 
the most-watched television broadcast in U.S. his-
tory had 118,000,000 viewers. 
(6) The public nature of broadcast television, 
radio, and satellite ensures a level of publicity for 
any political advertisement. These communications 
are accessible to the press, fact-checkers, and polit-
ical opponents; this creates strong disincentives for 
a candidate to disseminate materially false, inflam-
matory, or contradictory messages to the public. So-
cial media platforms, in contrast, can target portions 
of the electorate with direct, ephemeral advertise-
ments often on the basis of private information the 
platform has on individuals, enabling political adver-
tisements that are contradictory, racially or socially 
inflammatory, or materially false. 
(7) According to comScore, 2 companies own 8 
of the 10 most popular smartphone applications as 
of June 2017, including the most popular social 
media and email services—which deliver information 
and news to users without requiring proactivity by 
the user. Those same 2 companies accounted for 99 
percent of revenue growth from digital advertising in 
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2016, including 77 percent of gross spending. Sev-
enty-nine percent of online Americans—representing 
68 percent of all Americans—use the single largest 
social network, while 66 percent of these users are 
most likely to get their news from that site. 
(8) In its 2006 rulemaking, the Federal Elec-
tion Commission noted that only 18 percent of all 
Americans cited the internet as their leading source 
of news about the 2004 Presidential election; by con-
trast, the Pew Research Center found that 65 per-
cent of Americans identified an internet-based 
source as their leading source of information for the 
2016 election. 
(9) The Federal Election Commission, the inde-
pendent Federal agency charged with protecting the 
integrity of the Federal campaign finance process by 
providing transparency and administering campaign 
finance laws, has failed to take action to address on-
line political advertisements. 
(10) In testimony before the Senate Select 
Committee on Intelligence titled, ‘‘Disinformation: A 
Primer in Russian Active Measures and Influence 
Campaigns,’’ multiple expert witnesses testified that 
while the disinformation tactics of foreign adver-
saries have not necessarily changed, social media 
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services now provide ‘‘platform[s] practically pur-
pose-built for active measures[.]’’ Similarly, as Gen. 
(RET) Keith B. Alexander, the former Director of 
the National Security Agency, testified, during the 
Cold War ‘‘if the Soviet Union sought to manipulate 
information flow, it would have to do so principally 
through its own propaganda outlets or through ac-
tive measures that would generate specific news: 
planting of leaflets, inciting of violence, creation of 
other false materials and narratives. But the news 
itself was hard to manipulate because it would have 
required actual control of the organs of media, which 
took long-term efforts to penetrate. Today, however, 
because the clear majority of the information on so-
cial media sites is uncurated and there is a rapid 
proliferation of information sources and other sites 
that can reinforce information, there is an increasing 
likelihood that the information available to average 
consumers may be inaccurate (whether intentionally 
or otherwise) and may be more easily manipulable 
than in prior eras.’’. 
(11) Current regulations on political advertise-
ments do not provide sufficient transparency to up-
hold the public’s right to be fully informed about po-
litical advertisements made online. 
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SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the dramatic increase in digital political ad-
vertisements, and the growing centrality of online 
platforms in the lives of Americans, requires the 
Congress and the Federal Election Commission to 
take meaningful action to ensure that laws and reg-
ulations provide the accountability and transparency 
that is fundamental to our democracy; 
(2) free and fair elections require both trans-
parency and accountability which give the public a 
right to know the true sources of funding for polit-
ical advertisements in order to make informed polit-
ical choices and hold elected officials accountable; 
and 
(3) transparency of funding for political adver-
tisements is essential to enforce other campaign fi-
nance laws, including the prohibition on campaign 
spending by foreign nationals. 
SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU-
NICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu-
nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, or paid 
digital communication’’. 
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(b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI-
TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘on broadcasting stations, 
or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of 
general public political advertising’’ in clause 
(v) and inserting ‘‘in any public communica-
tion’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘broadcasting, newspaper, 
magazine, billboard, direct mail, or similar type 
of general public communication or political ad-
vertising’’ in clause (ix)(1) and inserting ‘‘pub-
lic communication’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘but not including the use 
of broadcasting, newspapers, magazines, bill-
boards, direct mail, or similar types of general 
public communication or political advertising’’ 
in clause (x) and inserting ‘‘but not including 
use in any public communication’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 
(A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 
editorial distributed through the facilities 
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of any broadcasting station or any print, 
online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 
blog, publication, or periodical, unless such 
broadcasting, print, online, or digital facili-
ties are owned or controlled by any polit-
ical party, political committee, or can-
didate;’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘on broadcasting stations, 
or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of 
general public political advertising’’ in clause 
(iv) and inserting ‘‘in any public communica-
tion’’. 
(c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 
Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
30120) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 
through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga-
zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 
other type of general public political advertising’’ 
and inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 
and 
(2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 
through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga-
zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 
other type of general public political advertising’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 
public communication’’. 
SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTIONEERING 
COMMUNICATION. 
(a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 
(1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND 
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 
section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica-
tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 
(ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified internet 
or digital communication’’. 
(B) QUALIFIED
INTERNET
OR
DIGITAL 
COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 
304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) QUALIFIED
INTERNET
OR
DIGITAL 
COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified internet 
or digital communication’ means any commu-
nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 
on an online platform (as defined in subsection 
(j)(3)).’’. 
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(2) NONAPPLICATION
OF
RELEVANT
ELEC-
TORATE
TO
ONLINE
COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 
304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 
broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica-
tion’’. 
(3) 
NEWS
EXEMPTION.—Section 
304(f)(3)(B)(i) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 
news story, commentary, or editorial dis-
tributed through the facilities of any 
broadcasting station or any online or dig-
ital newspaper, magazine, blog, publica-
tion, or periodical, unless such broad-
casting, online, or digital facilities are 
owned or controlled by any political party, 
political committee, or candidate;’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to communications 
made on or after January 1, 2020. 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO ON-
LINE COMMUNICATIONS. 
(a) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE-
MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Elec-
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tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘shall clearly state’’ each place 
it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in-
serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man-
ner’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following flush 
sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, a com-
munication does not make a statement in a clear 
and conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or 
hear or if the placement is easily overlooked.’’. 
(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR 
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318 of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIG-
ITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE-
MENTS.—In the case of any qualified internet or 
digital 
communication 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a me-
dium in which the provision of all of the information 
specified in this section is not possible, the commu-
nication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner— 
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‘‘(A) state the name of the person who 
paid for the communication; and 
‘‘(B) provide a means for the recipient of 
the communication to obtain the remainder of 
the information required under this section with 
minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 
any additional material other than such re-
quired information. 
‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR 
AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in quali-
fied internet or digital communication (as defined in 
section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to be made 
in a clear and conspicuous manner as provided in 
subsection (a) if the communication meets the fol-
lowing requirements: 
‘‘(A) TEXT
OR
GRAPHIC
COMMUNICA-
TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com-
munication, the statement— 
‘‘(i) appears in letters at least as large 
as the majority of the text in the commu-
nication; and 
‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para-
graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) AUDIO
COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 
case of an audio communication, the statement 
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is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 
manner at the beginning or end of the commu-
nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 
‘‘(C) VIDEO
COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 
case of a video communication which also in-
cludes audio, the statement— 
‘‘(i) is included at either the beginning 
or the end of the communication; and 
‘‘(ii) is made both in— 
‘‘(I) a written format that meets 
the requirements of subparagraph (A) 
and appears for at least 4 seconds; 
and 
‘‘(II) an audible format that 
meets the requirements of subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘(D) OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 
case of any other type of communication, the 
statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 
as the statement specified in subparagraphs 
(A), (B), or (C).’’. 
(2) NONAPPLICATION
OF
CERTAIN
EXCEP-
TIONS.—The 
exceptions 
provided 
in 
section 
110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall 
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have no application to qualified internet or digital 
communications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) 
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971). 
(c) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS 
FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(d) of such 
Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 
through radio’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in an 
audio format’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘BY RADIO’’ in the heading 
and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 
through television’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in 
video format’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘BY TELEVISION’’ in the 
heading and inserting ‘‘VIDEO FORMAT’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 
or television’’ and inserting ‘‘made in audio or 
video format’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘through television’’ in the 
second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for-
mat’’. 
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SEC. 8. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 
PLATFORMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ONLINE ADVERTISE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT-
FORMS.—An online platform shall maintain, 
and make available for online public inspection 
in machine readable format, a complete record 
of any request to purchase on such online plat-
form a qualified political advertisement which is 
made by a person whose aggregate requests to 
purchase qualified political advertisements on 
such online platform during the calendar year 
exceeds $500. 
‘‘(B) 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
ADVER-
TISERS.—Any person who requests to purchase 
a qualified political advertisement on an online 
platform shall provide the online platform with 
such information as is necessary for the online 
platform to comply with the requirements of 
subparagraph (A). 
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‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main-
tained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain— 
‘‘(A) a digital copy of the qualified political 
advertisement; 
‘‘(B) a description of the audience targeted 
by the advertisement, the number of views gen-
erated from the advertisement, and the date 
and time that the advertisement is first dis-
played and last displayed; and 
‘‘(C) information regarding— 
‘‘(i) the average rate charged for the 
advertisement; 
‘‘(ii) the name of the candidate to 
which the advertisement refers and the of-
fice to which the candidate is seeking elec-
tion, the election to which the advertise-
ment refers, or the national legislative 
issue to which the advertisement refers (as 
applicable); 
‘‘(iii) in the case of a request made 
by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name 
of the candidate, the authorized committee 
of the candidate, and the treasurer of such 
committee; and 
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