Why It Matters
The American people should decide elections for themselves without deceptive foreign manipulation. That requires transparency about the sources of paid political messages. Weak disclosure requirements for online ads — as well as secretive nonprofits and other corporate entities — open the door to illegal foreign spending in our elections, as occurred in 2016.
The Brennan Center for Justice advocates for stronger disclosure laws to eliminate “dark money” — something that is especially important since the Supreme Court struck down many of the limits on political spending. We’re also fighting to make online ads subject to the same disclosure rules as TV ads, which would make it much harder for foreign adversaries to manipulate our elections through false, misleading, or inflammatory ads on social media.
