percent, got most of their news about elections on-
line. 
(3) According to studies from AdImpact and 
Borrell 
Associates, 
in 
2020, 
an 
estimated 
$1,700,000,000 was spent on online political adver-
tising, more than 10 times the amount spent in 
2012. 
(4) In order to enhance transparency of all po-
litical advertisement funding, it is prudent to extend 
to online internet platforms the same types of polit-
ical advertisement disclosure requirements applicable 
to broadcast television and radio stations, and pro-
viders of cable and satellite television. 
(5) Effective and complete transparency for vot-
ers must include information about the true and 
original source of money given, transferred, and 
spent on political advertisements made online. 
(6) Requiring the disclosure of this information 
is a necessary and narrowly tailored means to in-
form the voting public of who is behind digital ad-
vertising disseminated to influence their votes and to 
enable the Federal Election Commission and the De-
partment of Justice to detect and prosecute illegal 
foreign spending on local, State, and Federal elec-
tions and other campaign finance violations. 
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(7) Paid advertising on large online platforms is 
different from advertising placed on other common 
media in terms of the comparatively low cost of 
reaching large numbers of people, the availability of 
sophisticated microtargeting, and the ease with 
which online advertisers, particularly those located 
outside the United States, can evade disclosure re-
quirements. Requiring large online platforms to 
maintain public files of information about the online 
political ads they disseminate is the best and least 
restrictive means to ensure the voting public has 
complete information about who is trying to influ-
ence their votes and to aid enforcement of other 
laws, including the prohibition on foreign money in 
domestic campaigns. 
(8) 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 247,000,000 American 
users—over 153,000,000 of them on a daily basis. 
By contrast, the largest cable television provider has 
16,142,000 subscribers, while the largest satellite 
television provider has 13,300,000 subscribers. And 
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the most-watched television broadcast in United 
States history had 118,000,000 viewers. 
(9) 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. 
(10) Large social media platforms are the only 
entities in possession of certain key data related to 
paid online ads, including the exact audience tar-
geted by those ads and their number of impressions. 
Such information, which cannot be reliably disclosed 
by the purchasers of ads, is extremely useful for in-
forming the electorate, guarding against corruption, 
and aiding in the enforcement of existing campaign 
finance regulations. 
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(11) Paid advertisements on social media plat-
forms have served as critical tools for foreign online 
influence campaigns—even those that rely on large 
amounts of unpaid content—because such ads allow 
foreign actors to test the effectiveness of different 
messages, expose their messages to audiences who 
have not sought out such content, and recruit audi-
ences for future campaigns and posts. 
(12) A 2019 Senate Select Committee on 
Intelligence’s Report on Russian Active Measures 
Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Elec-
tion Volume 2: Russia’s Use of Social Media with 
Additional Views, the Committee recommended 
‘‘that Congress examine legislative approaches to en-
suring Americans know the sources of online polit-
ical advertisements. The Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 requires political advertisements on tele-
vision, radio and satellite to disclose the sponsor of 
the advertisement. The same requirements should 
apply online. This will also help to ensure that the 
IRA or any similarly situated actors cannot use paid 
advertisements for purposes of foreign inter-
ference.’’. 
(13) On March 16, 2021, the Office of the Di-
rector of National Intelligence released the declas-
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sified Intelligence Community assessment of foreign 
threats to the 2020 U.S. Federal elections. The de-
classified report found: ‘‘Throughout the election 
cycle, Russia’s online influence actors sought to af-
fect U.S. public perceptions of the candidates, as 
well as advance Moscow’s longstanding goals of un-
dermining confidence in US election processes and 
increasing sociopolitical divisions among the Amer-
ican people.’’. The report also determined that Iran 
sought to influence the election by ‘‘creating and 
amplifying social media content that criticized [can-
didates].’’ 
(14) According to a Wall Street Journal report 
in April 2021, voluntary ad libraries operated by 
major platforms rely on foreign governments to self- 
report political ad purchases. These ad-buys, includ-
ing those diminishing major human rights violations 
like the Uighur genocide, are under-reported by for-
eign government purchasers, with no substantial 
oversight or repercussions from the platforms. 
(15) Multiple reports have indicated that online 
ads have become a key vector for strategic influence 
by the People’s Republic of China. An April 2021 
Wall Street Journal report noted that the Chinese 
Government and Chinese state-owned enterprises are 
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major purchasers of ads on the U.S.’s largest social 
media platform, including to advance Chinese propa-
ganda. 
(16) Large online platforms have made changes 
to their policies intended to make it harder for for-
eign actors to purchase political ads. However, these 
private actions have not been taken by all platforms, 
have not been reliably enforced, and are subject to 
immediate change at the discretion of the platforms. 
(17) The Federal Election Commission’s cur-
rent regulations on political advertisements do not 
provide sufficient transparency to uphold the 
public’s right to be fully informed about political ad-
vertisements made online. 
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 
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right to know the true sources of funding for polit-
ical advertisements, be they foreign or domestic, in 
order to make informed political 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’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI-
TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8)(B)(v), by striking ‘‘on 
broadcasting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 
or similar types of general public political adver-
tising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public communica-
tion’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 
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(A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 
editorial distributed through the facilities 
of any broadcasting station or any print, 
online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 
publication, periodical, blog, or platform, 
unless such broadcasting, print, online, or 
digital facilities are owned or controlled by 
any political party, political committee, or 
candidate;’’; and 
(B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘on broad-
casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 
or similar types of general public political ad-
vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu-
nication’’. 
(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 
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(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’’ 
and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 
public communication’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether 
or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 
the final regulations necessary to carry out this part and 
the amendments made by this part by the deadline set 
forth in subsection (e). 
(e) REGULATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 
Commission shall promulgate regulations on what con-
stitutes a paid internet or paid digital communication for 
purposes of paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(22)), 
as amended by subsection (a), except that such regulation 
shall not define a paid internet or paid digital communica-
tion to include communications for which the only pay-
ment consists of internal resources, such as employee com-
pensation, of the entity paying for the communication. 
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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)).’’. 
(2) NONAPPLICATION
OF
RELEVANT
ELEC-
TORATE
TO
ONLINE
COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 
304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
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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, publication, peri-
odical, blog, or platform, unless such 
broadcasting, 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, 2024, and shall take effect 
without regard to whether or not the Federal Election 
Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out 
such amendments. 
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 section, a commu-
nication 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 FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR 
DIGITAL 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 subparagraph (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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(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and shall take effect without regard to 
whether or not the Federal Election Commission has pro-
mulgated regulations to carry out such amendments. 
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.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—An online plat-
form shall maintain, and make available 
for online public inspection in machine 
readable format, a complete record of any 
qualified political advertisement which is 
purchased by a person whose aggregate 
purchases of qualified political advertise-
ments on such online platform during the 
calendar year exceeds $500. 
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‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT RELATING TO PO-
LITICAL ADS SOLD BY THIRD-PARTY AD-
VERTISING VENDORS.—An online platform 
that displays a qualified political advertise-
ment sold by a third-party advertising ven-
dor shall include on its own platform— 
‘‘(I) an easily accessible and 
identifiable link to the records main-
tained by the third-party advertising 
vendor under clause (i) regarding 
such qualified political advertisement; 
or 
‘‘(II) in any case in which the 
third-party advertising vendor does 
not make such records available, a 
statement that no records from the 
third-party 
advertising 
vendors 
records are available. 
‘‘(B) 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
ADVER-
TISERS.—Any person who purchases a qualified 
political advertisement on an online platform 
shall provide the online platform with such in-
formation as is necessary for the online plat-
form to comply with the requirements of sub-
paragraph (A). 
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‘‘(iv) in the case of any request not 
described in clause (iii), the name of the 
person purchasing the advertisement, the 
name and address of a contact person for 
such person, and a list of the chief execu-
tive officers or members of the executive 
committee or of the board of directors of 
such person. 
‘‘(3) ONLINE PLATFORM.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
subsection, subject to subparagraph (B), the 
term ‘online platform’ means any public-facing 
website, web application, or digital application 
(including a social network, ad network, or 
search engine) which— 
‘‘(i)(I) sells qualified political adver-
tisements; and 
‘‘(II) has 50,000,000 or more unique 
monthly United States visitors or users for 
a majority of months during the preceding 
12 months; or 
‘‘(ii) is a third-party advertising ven-
dor that has 50,000,000 or more unique 
monthly United States visitors in the ag-
gregate on any advertisement space that it 
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has sold or bought for a majority of 
months during the preceding 12 months, 
as measured by an independent digital rat-
ings service accredited by the Media Rat-
ings Council (or its successor). 
‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—Such term shall not 
include any online platform that is a distribu-
tion facility of any broadcasting station or 
newspaper, magazine, blog, publication, or peri-
odical. 
‘‘(C) THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING VENDOR 
DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the 
term ‘third-party advertising vendor’ includes 
any third-party advertising vendor network, ad-
vertising agency, advertiser, or third-party ad-
vertisement serving company that buys and 
sells advertisement space on behalf of unaffili-
ated third-party websites, search engines, dig-
ital applications, or social media sites. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.— 
For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified 
political advertisement’ means any advertisement 
(including search engine marketing, display adver-
tisements, video advertisements, native advertise-
ments, and sponsorships) that— 
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‘‘(A) is made by or on behalf of a can-
didate; or 
‘‘(B) communicates a message relating to 
any political matter of national importance, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(i) a candidate; 
‘‘(ii) any election to Federal office; or 
‘‘(iii) a national legislative issue of 
public importance. 
‘‘(5) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The informa-
tion required under this subsection shall be made 
available as soon as possible and shall be retained by 
the online platform for a period of not less than 4 
years. 
‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of this sub-
section, multiple versions of an advertisement that 
contain no material differences (such as versions 
that differ only because they contain a recipient’s 
name, or differ only in size, color, font, or layout) 
may be treated as a single qualified political adver-
tisement. 
‘‘(7) PENALTIES.—For penalties for failure by 
online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase 
a qualified political advertisement on online plat-
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forms, to comply with the requirements of this sub-
section, see section 309.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether 
or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 
the final regulations necessary to carry out this part and 
the amendments made by this part by the deadline set 
forth in subsection (c). 
(c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 120 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 
Commission shall establish rules— 
(1) for determining whether an advertisement 
communicates a national legislative issue for pur-
poses of section 304(j) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection (a)); 
(2) requiring common data formats for the 
record required to be maintained under such section 
304(j) so that all online platforms submit and main-
tain data online in a common, machine-readable and 
publicly accessible format; and 
(3) establishing search interface requirements 
relating to such record, including searches by can-
didate name, issue, purchaser, and date. 
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(d) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually there-
after, the Chairman of the Federal Election Commission 
shall submit a report to Congress on— 
(1) matters relating to compliance with and the 
enforcement of the requirements of section 304(j) of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 
added by subsection (a); 
(2) recommendations for any modifications to 
such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; 
and 
(3) identifying ways to bring transparency and 
accountability to political advertisements distributed 
online for free. 
SEC. 9. PREVENTING CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPENDITURES, 
INDEPENDENT 
EXPENDITURES, 
AND 
DIS-
BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COM-
MUNICATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 
THE FORM OF ONLINE ADVERTISING. 
Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF BROADCAST STATIONS, 
PROVIDERS OF CABLE AND SATELLITE TELEVISION, AND 
ONLINE PLATFORMS.— 
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