Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign disclosures: advertisements.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires specified disclosures in advertisements regarding the source of the advertisement. The act defines "advertisement" for this purpose as a general or public communication that is authorized and paid for by a committee for the purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate or candidates for elective office or a ballot measure or ballot measures. Among other things, the act requires an electronic media advertisement, other than an Internet Web site, paid for by a committee, other than a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, to include the text "Who funded this ad?," unless including the text would be impracticable, and a hyperlink to an Internet Web site containing specified disclosures regarding who paid for the advertisement. For an Internet Web site paid for by a committee, other than a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, the act requires the Internet Web site to include only specified disclosures regarding who paid for the advertisement, without exception. This bill would modify the disclosures required for electronic media advertisements. The bill would require an electronic media advertisement that is a graphic, image, animated graphic, or animated image that the online platform, as defined, hosting the advertisement allows to link to an Internet Web site, paid for by a committee, other than a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, to meet the "Who funded this ad?" disclosure described above. The bill would modify the "Who funded this ad?" disclosure in various ways, including requiring the disclosure to be made for the duration of the advertisement and allowing the text to be replaced with the phrase "Paid for by" or "Ad Paid for by." The bill would require for an email message or Internet Web site the disclosures to be made at top or bottom of the email message, or at the top or bottom of every publicly accessible page of the Internet Web site, as applicable. The bill would require an electronic media advertisement that is disseminated as a video to comply with certain disclosure requirements, and if the video is longer than 30 seconds, the disclosures to be made at the beginning of the advertisement. The act requires that an advertisement made via a form of electronic media that allows users to engage in discourse and post content, or any other type of social media, only include specified disclosures in a contrasting color and in no less than 8 point font on the committee's profile, landing page, or similar location, and not on each individual post, comment, or other similar communication. This bill would require the disclosures on the committee's profile, landing page, or similar location to be on the cover or header photo of the committee's profile, landing page, or similar location and in no less than 10-point font. The bill would require the disclosures to be fully visible on the cover or header photo when the profile, landing page, or similar location is viewed from any electronic device that is commonly used to view this form of electronic media. If making the disclosures fully visible on a commonly used electronic device would be impracticable, the bill would require the cover or header photo of the profile, landing page, or similar location to include only a hyperlink, icon, button, or tab to an Internet Web site containing the disclosures. This bill would require a committee that disseminates an online platform disclosed advertisement, as defined, to expressly notify the online platform through which the advertisement would be disseminated that the advertisement is an advertisement under the act and provide the disclosure name, as defined, of the committee. The bill would require an online platform that disseminates a committee's online platform disclosed advertisement to display adjacent to any text stating that the advertisement is an advertisement or is promoted or sponsored, "Paid for by" or "Ad Paid for by" followed by the disclosure name provided by the committee, with certain exceptions. The bill would require an online platform that disseminates committees' online platform disclosed advertisements to maintain and make available a record of any advertisement disseminated on the online platform by a committee that purchased $500 or more in advertisements on the online platform during the preceding 12 months. The bill would require an online platform to display a prominent button, icon, tab, or hyperlink that links to a page clearly showing the records of the advertisements. The bill would make a person who intentionally violates these provisions for the purpose of avoiding disclosure liable in a civil or administrative action brought by the Fair Political Practices Commission or any person for a fine up to 3 times the cost of the advertisement, including placement costs. The act requires a radio or television advertisement that is paid for by a political party or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, and that does not support or oppose a ballot measure and is not paid for by an independent expenditure, to include a specified disclosure regarding who paid for the advertisement. This bill would require an advertisement that is made via a form of electronic media that allows users to engage in discourse and post content, or any other type of social media, that is paid for by a political party or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate to include specified disclosures regarding who paid for the advertisement. Because a violation of the act is punishable as a misdemeanor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The bill would become operative on January 1, 2020. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.