Fact Sheet on H.R. 1606
The Online Freedom of Speech Act is on the House Suspension Calendar and is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.
•
A blanket exemption as in H.R. 1606 for even paid communications on the
Internet will open up huge new soft money loopholes in the federal
campaign finance laws.
• The Internet exemption would allow federal candidates to coordinate
with corporations, labor unions and wealthy donors in the expenditure
of unlimited amounts of soft money for Internet banner and video ads
supporting their campaigns, or attacking their opponents.
• The legislation would thus allow a federal candidate, to sit down
with a wealthy donor and write a campaign ad and then give the ad to
the donor and permit him or her to spend an unlimited amount on buying
banner ad display space on popular websites to run the ad. The same
would be true for the spending of corporate or union funds in
coordination with a candidate.
• The Internet exemption would also allow national political parties to
spend unlimited amounts of soft money for paid ad campaigns on the
Internet to support or oppose federal candidates.
• This legislation would allow a state party to use soft money to buy
banner ads or video ads on popular websites to support or oppose
federal candidates.
• This blanket Internet exemption, while opening these new huge soft
money loopholes, is unnecessary to ensure that individual bloggers
engaged in political communications over the Internet are not subject
to the campaign finance laws.
• The FEC is already considering proposed rules that would affirm that
campaign finance laws do not apply to individual bloggers without
opening huge soft money loopholes in the laws.
The campaign finance laws should not, and do not, limit political
discourse by individual bloggers on the Internet. At the same time, the
campaign finance laws must not be subverted by opening huge soft money
loopholes that would allow the Internet to become the vehicle for
candidates, parties and others to again raise and spend unlimited
amounts of soft money to influence federal campaigns.
