Should the FPPC Regulate Tweeters, Facebookers?
In the Age of the Internet, when campaigns, advocates, consultants and engaged citizens are using all forms of social media - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Gmail Buzz, etc. - to communicate about politics, the Fair Political Practices Commission is struggling to figure out what in all that constitutes political communication that ought to be regulated - like paid advertising - and what is purely a function of free speech.
It's a fair question.
Last week, I testified (and Tweeted) before the FPPC's Subcommittee examining electronic communication in political campaigns as part of a panel of political consultants (also at the table was Julia Rosen, the Courage Campaign's Online Political Directorm and Bryan Merica from ID Media and Fox & Hounds Daily). We were followed by Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation, Derek Cressman of Common Cause, Tiffany Mok of the ACLU and Professor Barbara O'Connor, Sacramento State University.
The subcommittee wanted to hear from us if it should develop, in the words of Chairman Ross Johnson, "appropriate responses to new political realities."
My advice was straightforward: do no harm. Don't regulate independent bloggers. Don't do anything that will stunt the growth of the Internet to attract and involve voters. But do provide clear guidelines for disclosure if there's campaign money involved. And while you're
