Via WaPo: FEC Considers Restricting Online Political Activities
The Federal Election Commission has begun considering whether to issue new rules on how political campaigns are waged on the Internet, a regulatory process that is expected to take months to complete but that is already generating considerable angst online.The agency is weighing whether — and how — to impose restrictions on a host of online activities, including campaign advertising and politically oriented blogs.
This will, no doubt, send substantial ripples through the Blogosphere.
However, I will note (as I generally do in regards to stories like this one): why not get out of the business of regulating speech all together? That would certainly solve the more complex issues at play here.
I am only for one type of campaign finance regulation: full disclosure (i.e., who gives what and how much to whom and who pays for what).
As such I can see the following:
Should bloggers who work for political campaigns, for example, be required to disclose that relationship? Should their writings include a disclaimer indicating that they were paid for by a campaign?
Such disclosure seems fair; indeed I would argue that it is requisite.
Beyond that, however, the rest of this should be beyond regulation:
What if a campaign supporter links his Web site to a candidate’s home page? Is that considered a campaign contribution subject to government regulation? What if an independent blogger endorses a candidate? Or posts a campaign’s news release? Are those contributions?
If links are campaign contributions, then so it putting a sign in your yard, or a bumper sticker on your car (and cars in heavily urban areas are a greater contribution than if you live in the middle of nowhere). If posting a positive or negative statement about a candidate then so is saying such to your friends (and those with more friends are making greater contributions than others).
All of that is, of course, ludicrious—and so is regulating blogs.
Again: thanks, McCain-Feingold! Were it not for your genius, we wouldn’t even have to ask these questions.
FEC, Blogs and liberal hypocrisy
Meanwhile the Chicomms are trying to keep the blogs down….why would we even think about doing the same? Says a lot about the people pushing this agenda doesn’t it?
Trackback by bennellibrothers.com — Wednesday, March 23, 2024 @ 10:33 am