Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara announced the passage of new legislation in the State Assembly today that requires all internet and digital political communications on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to disclose the individual or organization paying for them (A.9930). The bill, known as the Democracy Protection Act, aims to increase transparency in New York’s election process.

“Voters deserve to know who is funding the political advertisements they see on websites or social media,” said Assemblyman Santabarbara. “With the increasing use of social media in political campaigns, we simply cannot allow false information to run unchecked,” Santabarbara said.

Under the Democracy Protection Act, any political advertisement posted to the internet must include a “paid for by” statement followed by the name of the political committee funding the expenditure, holding digital communications to the same disclosure and attribution standards as television, radio and print. The bill also requires television, radio and online platforms to keep a record of all paid political communications, including the audience targeted by the advertisement, the number of views generated and the name, address and phone number of the person purchasing the ad, and make it available online to the public. The bill also prohibits any foreign national or government agent from registering as an independent expenditure committee for the purpose of paying for political communications in any state or local election.

“This bill holds online ads to the same standards as those used in traditional political communications such as mail, radio and television,” Santabarbara added. “In the age of smartphones and digital media, we are seeing more and more ads each day.” Santabarbara said. “Sometimes they seem to show up in our social media feeds non-stop and New Yorkers deserve to know where they’re coming from and who is paying for them.”