The Federal Election Commission has backed off its plans to
regulate political content on the Internet in the face of mounting criticism
after it suggested that online political activity should be regulated.
The FEC on Thursday rejected talk of new rules, a victory
for GOP commissioners who feared Democrats were targeting conservative sites
like the Drudge Report and Sean Hannity.
During a public meeting, Democrats
on the FEC said they were responding to the public outcry in saying that no new
rules are required, the Washington Examiner reported in a column by Paul Bedard.
Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub said the FEC
received approximately 5,000 comments demanding the agency keep its hands off
the Internet, Bedard reported. In response, she proposed a resolution that directly
barred Internet regulation.
“I wanted to make clear that I was
listening to what people are saying out there and I think we should allay those
concerns if people are concerned that we are about to do that,” she said. Her May 18 resolution said: “I further move that the Commission direct [counsel]
to exclude from the rulemaking any proposal affecting political activity on the
internet.”
Republican commissioners had raised
concerns that Democrats on the commission were targeting conservative political and news
websites like Drudge, and could regulate
them.
Weintraub denied she ever wanted to “regulate the Internet”
but was merely trying to provide more “transparency” in political fundraising
covered by a recent Supreme Court case in which the court struck down contribution
limits. The ruling led some, such as U.S. News and World Report, to declare
that the U.S. had entered the “Wild West” of unlimited political donations.
But public comments on the plan, she said, brought home two
clear messages: “There was a strong message that we not regulate the Internet
and there was an even stronger message in terms of number of people who bother
to comment, who said do something about disclosure.”
A total of about 32,000 comments were received.
FEC Chair Ann M. Ravel, pushing for new disclosure
regulations, added that the agency should make clear it won’t touch the
Internet. “There is no such regulation, and it should not — we can say it
clearly here, in this motion,” she said.
The FEC deadlocked 3-3 and did not approve the resolution,
but comments by Democrats appeared to stymie, at least for now, any attempts by
the agency to regulate the online world.
Republican Commissioner Lee Goodman told Bedard, “We have
now won this debate, and that’s good for the American people and the Internet.”
Goodman had pushed a bid to “clarify” the regulations on
Internet political activity but Democrats ignored him. “I’m asking is to
clarify existing freedoms,” said Goodman.
Under current rules, political activity on the web is
allowed, but paid political advertising is regulated. There have been questions
about groups that promote causes or candidates, but not through advertising.
Even endorsements by news organizations have been questioned.
Republicans rejected the Democratic motion, believing new regulations
weren’t required.
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