April 1, 2006 | In Politics, Technology |
The US Federal Election Commission unanimously voted to leave internet political activity largely unregulated yesterday, allowing bloggers to endorse and criticize candidates without government interference or censorship.
The only regulations that will be imposed on internet political activity pertain to paid political advertising, where spending must be limited in the same way as offline ads for candidates.
According to FEC chairman, Michael E. Toner, the new rules will “totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws. The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified.”
The decision is designed to “protect Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including e-mailing, linking, blogging, or hosting a Web site,” Toner says.
This is a major victory for the cause of free speech on the internet, and lays to rest concerns that internet political activism could be restricted or silenced.
A group of three citizens rights groups (Democracy 21, Campaign Legal Center, and the Center for Responsive Politics) released a joint statement that “the new FEC regulation strikes the correct balance in preserving the Internet as an unregulated forum for robust political activity by individuals, while ensuring that the Internet does not become a loophole for unregulated soft money.”
