Social-Media Legislation Gains Traction After Months of Russia Probes

by Dramelin 9:30 AM 0 comments

Why Robert Mueller Is the Perfect Man for the Job After months of congressional investigations into Russian interference with U.
elections, legislation is gaining traction in the Senate that would impose new disclosure requirements for political advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media.
Senator John McCain gave a big boost to a proposal by Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mark Warner to require disclosure of who’s paying for online political ads, announcing he’ll co-sponsor the bill.
In two weeks, executives for the social media giants are due to testify at public hearings about Russia’s use of their networks to interfere in the 2016 election.
"I’ve been fighting for free and open and full disclosure for the past 25 years.
This is part of that effort," McCain told reporters Wednesday.
While televised political ads require disclosure of who paid for them, there are no such requirements for social media networks.
The proposal by Klobuchar and Warner is intended to bring social media ads up to the broadcast standard.
Until now, Congress’s reaction to Russian meddling has been to open investigations and to strengthen economic sanctions against the country.
President Donald Trump, whose campaign is under investigation over possible collusion with Moscow, has wavered about whether he thinks Russia meddled in the election and insisted his campaign didn’t collude.
But lawmakers in both parties say now is the time to act, before the 2018 midterm elections, when intelligence officials expect a continued Russian effort to interfere.
Shell Companies Bipartisan efforts also are under way to protect voting machines and databases from cyber intrusions and to more easily identify Russian attempts at influencing U.
elections by requiring shell companies to disclose their owners.
It’s not clear whether Republican House and Senate leaders or the White House will back the various efforts, although Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a hearing Wednesday he’s willing to work with lawmakers on issues such as cybersecurity.
Lawmakers’ focus on social media comes after Facebook Inc.
and Google owner Alphabet Inc.
acknowledged Russian exploitation of their networks to spread propaganda and chaos.
Representatives from the companies are scheduled to testify before Congress on Nov.
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said last week the company would hire 4,000 workers to improve vetting of online advertising and identification of fake accounts.
Sandberg said the network wants to create a "new standard" for transparency.
Linked Accounts Facebook has said about 470 Russia-linked accounts purchased advertising seeking to create strife, prompting Twitter to identify bogus accounts on its own network linked to the Facebook profiles.
Facebook lobbied for years to prevent disclosure requirements for online media.
By contrast, the requirements for political ads on television, which are enforced by the Federal Election Commission, include who is financing ads and how much is being spent on them.
Social media would have to follow the same rules as television and radio stations.
"They need to disclose and publicly register and notice who’s buying ads for political purposes," said Klobuchar, of Minnesota.
  Klobuchar said the exemption has become a far bigger problem over time, allowing foreign governments and bad actors to hide their efforts online -- even paying for ads in Russian rubles.
"I’m sure early on, in the early days of Facebook and Google, there weren’t a lot of these paid political ads.
Well, now we’re at $1.
4 billion," she said.
‘Light Touch’ Warner, of Virginia, said McCain’s backing is "big," adding that he hopes social media companies will sign on to what he calls "light touch" regulation, given how Russians used their networks.
But that hasn’t happened yet.
Warner said he expects to get more Republican co-sponsors following the public hearing.
GOP Senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas and Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina have all said in interviews they want to wait for the hearing before deciding on legislation.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said he is considering a push for even broader disclosure requirements by the social media companies.
"This threat to democracy is with us now," he said.
"It’s only going to expand.
We have to muster a self-defense, just as we would a military or a cyberattack.
" Several senators are also working on bills aimed at improving election security, including Democrat Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Collins, both members of the Intelligence Committee.
Heinrich’s legislation is expected to propose funding and guidelines to protect voting systems and databases from cyberattacks.
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said in an interview he is working on his own proposal, and Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon has pressed voting machine companies for information on their security practices.
States Targeted Those efforts follow reports that Russia attempted to access 21 state voter databases.
"We’ve got to get it ready for 2018, so it is the right timing," Lankford said.
Bills requiring disclosure of shell companies’ owners may also get a boost from the concern over Russia’s actions.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said testimony has shown that shell companies were "the lubricant for the election interference effort.
" Whitehouse has introduced a bill requiring disclosure of owners, co-sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican.
"Shell corporations help criminals hide the proceeds of their crimes, they help kleptocrats protect what they loot from their countries, but they also help facilitate Putin election interference," Whitehouse said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A separate bill by Wyden and Marco Rubio of Florida would require disclosure of the owners of shell companies to states or to the Treasury Department.