William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Abstract
In 2016, the Russian government purchased political advertisements from U.S. social media companies like Facebook to sway the U.S. presidential election. These purchases violated the foreign national prohibition (“the Prohibition”), which Congress codified as part of the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 (FECA). This Note explains why Congress should expand the Prohibition to capture the recipients of independent expenditures that violate the Prohibition and fine people who run online platforms that receive independent expenditures or contributions made by foreign nationals in violation of the Prohibition.
Part I describes current U.S. case law on domestic and foreign campaign finance regulations. Part I also discusses how the Russian government swayed the 2016 U.S. presidential election through online political advertisements and broadcast media, and how the Department of Justice (DOJ) responded to Russia’s interference with broadcast media by enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Part II considers how the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the agency that enforces the Prohibition, failed to sufficiently enforce the Prohibition against Russia because it relied on voluntary compliance, experienced partisan gridlock, and failed to mandate transparency from sellers about the purchases of online political advertisements.
Part III proposes that Congress should amend the Prohibition, which currently prohibits people from receiving contributions made by foreign nationals, to also prohibit people from receiving independent expenditures made by foreign nationals in violation of the Prohibition. Part III also proposes that Congress should pre-emptively investigate potential violations, adopt legislation to remove the commissioners’ partisan balance, and expand disclosure laws by requiring that platforms selling online advertisements report these purchases to the FEC.
This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.