Senators: Blogs Safe From Campaign Finance Regulation

Posted on March 9, 2005

Senators McCain and Feingold say blogs are safe from potential Internet regulation by the FEC. In a statement the Senators said, "There is simply no reason -- none -- to think that the FEC should or intends to regulate blogs or other Internet communications by private citizens. Suggestions to the contrary are simply the latest attempt by opponents of reform to whip up baseless fears."

The Senators' comments come in response to serious warnings from Bradley Smith, who is a commissioner on the Federal Elections Commission, that bloggers could be fined by the government for things like linking and posting press releases from candidates in blogs or email distribution lists. Smith suggested that this would happen if the Campaign Finance Law of 2002 was applied to the Internet. The FEC exempted the Internet from the campaign finance law (McCain-Feingold law) in 2002 by a 4-2 vote, but this time Smith said they couldn't muster enough votes to appeal the judge's decision.

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