FCC political advertising rules

With midterm elections fast approaching, candidates for public office and advocates for a variety of political issues are looking to radio and television broadcasters to get their message out. However, broadcasters need to keep in mind that airing these ads comes with upload requirements to a station’s political file, which is located within its online public inspection file. While this is not an exhaustive list of all political ad compliance requirements, here are two key rules to keep in mind this election season.

Last week, it was announced that the FCC would be considering some changes to its political broadcasting rules at its monthly open meeting in August.  In some quarters, that raised concern that significant changes were coming in time for the 2022 congressional elections. But, when the draft of the proposed changes was released, it turned out that the changes were instead very minor.

There’s a welcome place for reasonable regulation of political ads, but the current rules are so cumbersome and fraught with traps that even the most minor mistakes invite ready fines and embarrassment. Hopefully, acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s forthcoming changes will address that, but there’s reason for skepticism.