FEC asks for public comment on online ad disclosure rules

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is asking for public input on its disclosure rules for online political advertisements, as companies like Facebook and Google are being scrutinized by investigators for ads they ran during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The FEC announced on Tuesday that they would be reopening the public comment period on the rules nearly a year after the last time they sought public input on the disclosure requirement.

“In light of developments since the close of the last comment period, the Commission is reopening the comment period once again to consider disclaimer requirements as applied to certain internet communications,” the announcement reads.

{mosads}The move comes as some lawmakers are pressing for tighter disclosure requirements in the wake of Facebook’s revelation that it had uncovered 3,000 political ads purchased by Russian actors.

During the 2012 election cycle, Facebook and Google had both received exemptions from the FEC’s rules requiring that political ads feature a disclosure indicating who paid for them.

After Facebook’s admission last month that it had discovered Russian-bought ads, the company announced that it would now require the type of disclosures for which they had originally sought an exemption.

The FEC is soliciting input on whether its rules need to be revised in order to keep up with technological changes in the way that political actors advertise.

The public has until Nov. 9 to submit comments.