New FEC Rules Exempt Blogs From Regulation
Washington, DC, April 5, 2006. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced this month that political blogs will remain (relatively) free from regulation. The FEC voted unanimously to exempt Internet sites, and blog sites in particular, from regulation citing Congress's "conscious, informed judgment" (their words, not ours) that "the Internet should not be subject to the many restrictions that McCain-Feingold (the act that regulates political campaign activity) applies to other types of mass communications."
The ruling, although not unexpected, follows rumors the FEC might extend its regulatory reach into Internet communications, prompting Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., NV), to write in a letter to the FEC that the Internet "has provided a new and exciting medium for political speech," and that FEC's regulation "would blunt its tremendous potential, discourage broad political involvement in our nation and diminish our representative democracy." Perhaps an even clearer signal to the FEC of Congressional intent was Sen. Reid's introduction of a bill that would specifically exempt the Internet from the statutory definition of public communication.
Sen. Feingold, co-author of the law governing mass communication apparently agrees. In an article, the Senator wrote, "linking to campaign websites, quoting from or republishing campaign materials and even providing a link for donations to a candidate, if done without compensation, should not cause a blogger to be deemed to have made a contribution or trigger reporting requirements."
The FEC apparently got the message, contemporaneous with the FEC's announcement, Vice Chairman Michael E. Toner remarked the new rules "totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws. The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified." Toner also added the regulation "protects Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including emailing, linking, blogging or hosting a Web site."
While Toner's statement is generally true, bloggers may not act carte blanche; the exemption applies only to the extent that they avoid paid political advertisements. The rule also precludes use of company or union servers by employees or members on company time or under orders from the union; otherwise, company and union server use for political purposes remain unrestricted.
The FEC decision drew praise from a number of private watch-dog groups, including Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center and the Center for Responsive Politics, saying that "the new FEC regulation strikes the correct balance in preserving the Internet as an unregulated forum for robust political activity by individuals, while ensuring that the Internet does not become a loophole for unregulated soft money."