Honest Ads Act
Bill: S.5054 | Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Honest Ads Act
This bill applies requirements, limitations, and protections regarding political advertising in traditional media to internet or digital political advertising. The bill sets forth special rules for disclosure statements for certain internet or digital ads.

To enhance transparency and accountability for online political 
advertisements by requiring those who purchase and publish such ads to 
 disclose information about the advertisements to the public, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Honest Ads Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this subtitle is to enhance the integrity of 
American democracy and national security by improving disclosure 
requirements for online political advertisements in order to uphold the 
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) In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 
        (Public Law 107-155) became law, establishing disclosure 
        requirements for political advertisements distributed from a 
        television 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 requirements ``provide the electorate 
        with information and insure that the voters are fully informed 
        about the person or group who is speaking''. The Court 
        reaffirmed this conclusion in 2010 by an 8-1 vote.
            (2) In its 2006 rulemaking, the Federal Election 
        Commission, the independent Federal agency charged with 
        protecting the integrity of the Federal campaign finance 
        process, noted that 18 percent of all Americans cited the 
        internet as their leading source of news about the 2004 
        Presidential election. By contrast, Gallup and the Knight 
        Foundation found in 2020 that the majority of Americans, 58 
        percent, got most of their news about elections online.
            (3) According to a study from Borrell Associates, in 2016, 
        $1,415,000,000 was spent on online advertising, more than 
        quadruple the amount in 2012.
            (4) Effective and complete transparency for voters must 
        include information about the true and original source of money 
        given, transferred, and spent on political advertisements made 
        online.
            (5) Requiring the disclosure of this information is a 
        necessary and narrowly tailored means to inform the voting 
        public of who is behind digital advertising disseminated to 
        influence their votes and to enable the Federal Election 
        Commission and the Department of Justice to detect and 
        prosecute illegal foreign spending on local, State, and Federal 
        elections and other campaign finance violations.
            (6) 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 requirements. 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 influence their 
        votes and to aid enforcement of other laws, including the 
        prohibition on foreign money in domestic campaigns.
            (7) The reach of a few large internet platforms--larger 
        than any broadcast, satellite, or cable provider--has greatly 
        facilitated the scope and effectiveness 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. 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 United States history had 118,000,000 
        viewers.
            (8) 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 political opponents. This creates 
        strong disincentives for a candidate to disseminate materially 
        false, inflammatory, or contradictory messages to the public. 
        Social media platforms, in contrast, can target portions of the 
        electorate with direct, ephemeral advertisements often on the 
        basis of private information the platform has on individuals, 
        enabling political advertisements that are contradictory, 
        racially or socially inflammatory, or materially false.
            (9) According to comscore, 2 companies own 8 of the 10 most 
        popular smart phone 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 2016, including 77 
        percent of gross spending. 79 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.
            (10) Large social media platforms are the only entities in 
        possession of certain key data related to paid online ads, 
        including the exact audience targeted by those ads and their 
        number of impressions. Such information, which cannot be 
        reliably disclosed by the purchasers of ads, is extremely 
        useful for informing the electorate, guarding against 
        corruption, and aiding in the enforcement of existing campaign 
        finance regulations.
            (11) Paid advertisements on social media platforms 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 
        audiences for future campaigns and posts.
            (12) 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 adversaries have not necessarily changed, social media 
        services now provide ``platform[s] practically purpose-built 
        for active measures[.]''. Similarly, as Gen. Keith B. Alexander 
        (RET.), 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 active 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 social 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.''.
            (13) On November 24, 2016, The Washington Post reported 
        findings from 2 teams of independent researchers that concluded 
        Russians ``exploited American-made technology platforms to 
        attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment * * * 
        as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing distrust in 
        U.S. democracy and its leaders.''.
            (14) On January 6, 2017, the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence published a report titled ``Assessing 
        Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections'', 
        noting that ``Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an 
        influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential 
        election * * *''. Moscow's influence campaign followed a 
        Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence 
        operation--such as cyber activity--with overt efforts by 
        Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party 
        intermediaries, and paid social media users or ``trolls''.
            (15) 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 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 * * *''.
            (16) Findings from a 2017 study on the manipulation of 
        public opinion through social media conducted by the 
        Computational Propaganda Research Project at the Oxford 
        Internet Institute found that the Kremlin is using pro-Russian 
        bots to manipulate public discourse to a highly targeted 
        audience. With a sample of nearly 1,300,000 tweets, researchers 
        found that in the 2016 election's 3 decisive States, propaganda 
        constituted 40 percent of the sampled election-related tweets 
        that went to Pennsylvanians, 34 percent to Michigan voters, and 
        30 percent to those in Wisconsin. In other swing States, the 
        figure reached 42 percent in Missouri, 41 percent in Florida, 
        40 percent in North Carolina, 38 percent in Colorado, and 35 
        percent in Ohio.
            (17) 2018 reporting by the Washington Post estimated that 
        paid Russian ads received more than 37,000,000 impressions in 
        2016 and 2017.
            (18) A 2019 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's 
        Report on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in 
        the 2016 U.S. Election Volume 2: Russia's Use of Social Media 
        with Additional Views, the Committee recommended ``that 
        Congress examine legislative approaches to ensuring Americans 
        know the sources of online political advertisements. The 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 requires political 
        advertisements on television, 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 interference.''.
            (19) A 2020 study by researchers at New York University 
        found undisclosed political advertisement purchases on a large 
        social media platform by a Chinese state media company in 
        violation of that platform's supposed prohibitions on foreign 
        spending on ads of social, national, or electoral importance.
            (20) The same study also found that ``there are persistent 
        issues with advertisers failing to disclose political ads'' and 
        that in one social media platform's political ad archive, 
        68,879 pages (54.6 percent of pages with political ads included 
        in the archive) never provided a disclosure. Overall, there 
        were 357,099 ads run on that platforms without a disclosure, 
        accounting for at least $37,000,000 in spending on political 
        ads.
            (21) A 2020 report by the bipartisan and bicameral U.S. 
        Cyberspace Solarium Commission found that ``Although foreign 
        nationals are banned from contributing to U.S. political 
        campaigns, they are still allowed to purchase U.S. political 
        advertisements online, making the internet a fertile 
        environment for conducting a malign influence campaign to 
        undermine American elections.''. The Commission concluded that 
        Russian interference in the 2016 election was and still is 
        possible, ``because the FECA, which establishes rules for 
        transparency in television, radio, and print media political 
        advertising, has not been amended to extend the same political 
        advertising requirements to internet platforms,'' and that 
        ``[a]pplying these standards across all media of communication 
        would, among other things, increase transparency of funding for 
        political advertisements, which would in turn strengthen 
        regulators' ability to reduce improper foreign influence in our 
        elections''.
            (22) On March 16, 2021, the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence released the declassified Intelligence 
        Community assessment of foreign threats to the 2020 U.S. 
        Federal elections. The declassified report found: ``Throughout 
        the election cycle, Russia's online influence actors sought to 
        affect U.S. public perceptions of the candidates, as well as 
        advance Moscow's longstanding goals of undermining confidence 
        in U.S. election processes and increasing sociopolitical 
        divisions among the American people.''. The report also 
        determined that Iran sought to influence the election by 
        ``creating and amplifying social media content that criticized 
        [candidates]''.
            (23) 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, including those diminishing major human rights 
        violations like the Uighur genocide, are under-reported by 
        foreign government purchasers, with no substantial oversight or 
        repercussions from the platforms.
            (24) 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 major purchasers of ads on the U.S.'s largest 
        social media platform, including to advance Chinese propaganda.
            (25) Large online platforms have made changes to their 
        policies intended to make it harder for foreign 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.
            (26) The Federal Election Commission has failed to take 
        action to address online political advertisements and current 
        regulations on political advertisements do not provide 
        sufficient transparency to uphold the public's right to be 
        fully informed about political advertisements made online.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the dramatic increase in digital political 
        advertisements, 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 regulations provide the accountability and 
        transparency that is fundamental to our democracy;
            (2) free and fair elections require both transparency and 
        accountability which give the public a right to know the true 
        sources of funding for political 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 advertisements is 
        essential to enforce other campaign finance laws, including the 
        prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals.

SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.

    (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 communication'' and inserting ``satellite, paid 
internet, or paid digital communication''.
    (b) Treatment of Contributions and Expenditures.--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 advertising'' and inserting ``in any 
        public communication''; and
            (2) in paragraph (9)(B)--
                    (A) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
                            ``(i) any news story, commentary, or 
                        editorial distributed through the facilities of 
                        any broadcasting station or any print, online, 
                        or digital newspaper, magazine, blog, 
                        publication, or periodical, 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 broadcasting 
                stations, or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types 
                of general public political advertising'' and inserting 
                ``in any public communication''.
    (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, magazine, 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, magazine, 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 constitutes 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 communication to include communications for 
which the only payment consists of internal resources, such as employee 
compensation, of the entity paying for the 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 Campaign Act of 1971 
                (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``or 
                satellite communication'' 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 communication which is placed 
                or promoted for a fee on an online platform (as defined 
                in subsection (j)(3)).''.
            (2) Nonapplication of relevant electorate 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 ``communication''.
            (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 distributed 
                        through the facilities of any broadcasting 
                        station or any online or digital newspaper, 
                        magazine, blog, publication, or periodical, 
                        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, 2023, 
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 ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.

    (a) Clear and Conspicuous Manner Requirement.--Subsection (a) of 
section 318 of the Federal Election 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 inserting ``shall 
        state in a clear and conspicuous manner''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following flush sentence: 
        ``For purposes of this section, a communication 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 statements.--In the 
        case of any qualified internet or digital communication (as 
        defined in section 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through 
        a medium in which the provision of all of the information 
        specified in this section is not possible, the communication 
        shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner--
                    ``(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 required information.
            ``(2) Safe harbor for determining clear and conspicuous 
        manner.--A statement in qualified 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 
        following requirements:
                    ``(A) Text or graphic communications.--In the case 
                of a text or graphic communication, the statement--
                            ``(i) appears in letters at least as large 
                        as the majority of the text in the 
                        communication; and
                            ``(ii) meets the requirements of paragraphs 
                        (2) and (3) of subsection (c).
                    ``(B) Audio communications.--In the case of an 
                audio communication, the statement is spoken in a 
                clearly audible and intelligible manner at the 
                beginning or end of the communication and lasts at 
                least 3 seconds.
                    ``(C) Video communications.--In the case of a video 
                communication which also includes 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 subparagraph (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 exceptions.--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 
        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 format''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 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 regulations to carry out such amendments.

SEC. 8. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLATFORMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 304 of the Federal Election 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 Advertisements.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Requirements for online platforms.--
                            ``(i) In general.--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 platform 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.
                            ``(ii) Requirement relating to political 
                        ads sold by third-party advertising vendors.--
                        An online platform that displays a qualified 
                        political advertisement sold by a third-party 
                        advertising vendor as defined in (3)(C), shall 
                        include on its own platform an easily 
                        accessible and identifiable link to the records 
                        maintained by the third-party advertising 
                        vendor under clause (i) regarding such 
                        qualified political advertisement.
                    ``(B) Requirements for advertisers.--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).
            ``(2) Contents of record.--A record maintained 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 generated from the 
                advertisement, and the date and time that the 
                advertisement is first displayed and last displayed; 
                and
                    ``(C) information regarding--
                            ``(i) the total cost of the advertisement;
                            ``(ii) the name of the candidate to which 
                        the advertisement refers and the office to 
                        which the candidate is seeking election, the 
                        election to which the advertisement 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
                            ``(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 executive 
                        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 
                        advertisements; 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 vendor 
                        that has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly 
                        United States visitors in the aggregate on any 
                        advertisement space that it has sold or bought 
                        for a majority of months during the preceding 
                        12 months, as measured by an independent 
                        digital ratings service accredited by the Media 
                        Ratings Council (or its successor).
                    ``(B) Exemption.--Such term shall not include any 
                online platform that is a distribution facility of any 
                broadcasting station or newspaper, magazine, blog, 
                publication, or periodical.
                    ``(C) Third-party advertising vendor defined.--For 
                purposes of this subsection, the term `third-party 
                advertising vendor' includes, but is not limited to, 
                any third-party advertising vendor network, advertising 
                agency, advertiser, or third-party advertisement 
                serving company that buys and sells advertisement space 
                on behalf of unaffiliated third-party websites, search 
                engines, digital 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 advertisements, video advertisements, native 
        advertisements, and sponsorships) that--
                    ``(A) is made by or on behalf of a candidate; or
                    ``(B) communicates a message relating to any 
                political matter of national importance, including--
                            ``(i) a candidate;
                            ``(ii) any election to Federal office; or
                            ``(iii) a national legislative issue of 
                        public importance.
            ``(5) Time to maintain file.--The information 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 subsection, 
        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 
        advertisement.
            ``(7) Penalties.--For penalties for failure by online 
        platforms, and persons requesting to purchase a qualified 
        political advertisement on online platforms, to comply with the 
        requirements of this subsection, 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) requiring common data formats for the record required 
        to be maintained under section 304(j) of the Federal Election 
        Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection (a)) so that all 
        online platforms submit and maintain data online in a common, 
        machine-readable and publicly accessible format; and
            (2) establishing search interface requirements relating to 
        such record, including searches by candidate name, issue, 
        purchaser, and date.
    (d) Reporting.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, 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 DISBURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING 
              COMMUNICATIONS 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.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each television or radio broadcast 
        station, provider of cable or satellite television, or online 
        platform (as defined in section 304(j)(3)) shall make 
        reasonable efforts to ensure that communications described in 
        section 318(a) and made available by such station, provider, or 
        platform are not purchased by a foreign national, directly or 
        indirectly.
            ``(2) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall 
        promulgate regulations on what constitutes reasonable efforts 
        under paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 10. REQUIRING ONLINE PLATFORMS TO DISPLAY NOTICES IDENTIFYING 
              SPONSORS OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS AND TO ENSURE 
              NOTICES CONTINUE TO BE PRESENT WHEN ADVERTISEMENTS ARE 
              SHARED.

    (a) In General.--Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amended by section 8(a), is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(k) Ensuring Display and Sharing of Sponsor Identification in 
Online Political Advertisements.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--An online platform displaying a 
        qualified political advertisement shall--
                    ``(A) display with the advertisement a visible 
                notice identifying the sponsor of the advertisement 
                (or, if it is not practical for the platform to display 
                such a notice, a notice that the advertisement is 
                sponsored by a person other than the platform); and
                    ``(B) ensure that the notice will continue to be 
                displayed if a viewer of the advertisement shares the 
                advertisement with others on that platform.
            ``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `online platform' has the meaning 
                given such term in subsection (j)(3); and
                    ``(B) the term ``qualified political advertisement' 
                has the meaning given such term in subsection 
                (j)(4).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act without regard to 
whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 
regulations to carry out such amendment.
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