Federal Election Commission Democrats are rebooting their campaign to regulate the internet, from social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to conservative websites like Drudge. Liberal commissioners previously gave up on this mission amid opposition from Republicans.
Many on the left are arguing FEC rules are outdated and need to be updated to the social media era, arguing the internet should be regulated for political content and spending, the Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday. Democrats have used FEC ex-Commisioner Ann Ravel's critical exit report to back their case. Ravel was behind the effort to change the rules, but her Republican colleagues shut her down because they believed her only goal was to regulate right-leaning websites.
Government employees who work for agencies that are opposed to President Donald Trump's administration have been using several "alt" Twitter accounts, including "altFEC." Most have been referencing Ravel's report.
16/21 ...and [MURs 6391 & 6471 (Commission on Hope Growth and Opportunity), p.16]
— altFEC (@alt_fec) March 20, 2017
"It means that the @FEC's disclosure rules have not been updated for the era of YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter," the altFEC account said, reiterating Ravel's report which insisted the FEC rules are outdated.
Thanks altFEC for spreading the word to people about this important agency which is not doing what the public has a right to expect it to do https://t.co/3vT7VIsh5j
— Ann Ravel (@AnnMRavel) March 20, 2017
"Thanks altFEC for spreading the word to people about this important agency which is not doing what the public has a right to expect it to do," Ravel tweeted.
And here’s the penalties chart: pic.twitter.com/xAoh1iIA0W
— altFEC (@alt_fec) March 20, 2017
Republican critics of the FEC Democrats noticed the tweets.
"AltFEC is attacking the GOPers' original vote to apply the internet exemption to a conservative organization," a FEC insider said, noting that Republicans pushed against regulations for internet sites so that they could run freely.
"It is ironic that the Democrats are using an anonymous twitter account to attack the right of non-profit organizations to post content on the web for free without disclosing their donors," a conservative FEC watcher said.