Federal Trade Commission Sues Facebook Claiming Unfair Monopoly Tactics
FEC Rules US Citizens Living Abroad Can Purchase Online Political Ads
January 19, 2021 by Dan McCue
WASHINGTON – The Federal Elections Commission has ruled that U.S. citizens living abroad can purchase political advertisements pertaining to elections in the United States.
The agency handed down the ruling in the case of Jean-Marc Bertrand, who seeks to encourage voters to support third party presidential candidates via Facebook ads.
Facebook requires those who purchase ads to provide a U.S. address and to make payments from a U.S. bank account. Since Bertrand had neither, he was precluded from purchasing the advertising he wanted to buy during the 2020 election cycle.
But the FEC said Tuesday that neither the Federal Elections Campaign Act nor Commission regulations require Bertrand to provide proof of holding a U.S. bank account or having a U.S. residential address to a social media platform as a prerequisite to his purchasing political advertisements on such platforms.
“As a general matter, the Commission has encouraged commercial entities to adopt screening procedures to avoid contributions or expenditures from foreign nationals and other prohibited sources,” the FEC said. “The Commission has not had occasion to review the particular screening procedures adopted by Facebook and expresses no views on those procedures.”
The agency went on to say that its advisory opinion does not weigh in on Bertrand’s citizenship — a fact “assumed by the Commission” it said – nor did it “relieve any entity of its obligation to comply with the Act and Commission regulations.
It also said it declined Bertrand’s request to determine whether Facebook should impose identical requirements on residents and non-resident U.S. citizens purchasing advertising content, saying that was a general question of interpretation beyond the scope of an advisory opinion request.
In The News
Entertainment
Looming Strikes Threaten to Shut Down Most US Film and Television Production
2021-09-24 21:47:40
Health
CDC Director Overrides Advisors’ Vote to Broaden Eligibility for Vaccines
2021-09-24 20:15:43
Travel
San Francisco Airport Nation’s First to Mandate COVID Vaccines for All Workers
2021-09-24 20:08:11
Health
Health
CDC Director Overrides Advisors’ Vote to Broaden Eligibility for Vaccines
2021-09-24 20:15:43
Voting
Social Media
August 19, 2021
by Tom Ramstack
Federal Trade Commission Sues Facebook Claiming Unfair Monopoly Tactics
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission submitted an amended complaint Thursday against Facebook Inc. in federal court in a case... Read More
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission submitted an amended complaint Thursday against Facebook Inc. in federal court in a case that threatens the social media giant’s multibillion dollar annual business operations. The FTC accuses Facebook of antitrust violations that give its competition minimal chance of surviving... Read More
August 12, 2021
by Tom Ramstack
Twitter Loses in Court Ruling on Releasing FBI Search Data
Twitter lost another court battle this week in its effort to publicly release data showing when the FBI tapped into... Read More
Twitter lost another court battle this week in its effort to publicly release data showing when the FBI tapped into customer communications of the social media giant. Twitter, Inc. wants to release the information for the sake of transparency to its customers. The FBI argued successfully... Read More
July 26, 2021
by Dan McCue
Judge Grants FTC More Time to File Amended Complaint Against Facebook
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Federal Trade Commission until Aug. 19 to file an amended... Read More
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Federal Trade Commission until Aug. 19 to file an amended complaint in its antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the agency asked for a three-week... Read More
July 12, 2021
by Victoria Turner
Federal, State Laws Should Bolster Social Media Accountability, Carr says
Reforming Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act is not enough to curb the power of social media platforms,... Read More
Reforming Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act is not enough to curb the power of social media platforms, and should be bolstered by federal and state laws to enforce transparency, accountability and anti-discrimination, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said. Despite the “tremendous benefits” the tech... Read More
July 7, 2021
by Dan McCue
Trump Sues Facebook, Twitter and Google
BEDMINSTER, N.J. - Former President Donald Trump filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google, and their CEOs... Read More
BEDMINSTER, N.J. - Former President Donald Trump filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google, and their CEOs on Wednesday, alleging the companies violated his 1st Amendment rights when they banned him and suspended his accounts. “Our case will prove this censorship is unlawful,... Read More
July 2, 2021
by TWN Staff
Former Trump Advisor to Launch Social Media Platform July 4
WASHINGTON - Former top Trump advisor Jason Miller will launch GETTR, a new social media platform, on July 4, a... Read More
WASHINGTON - Former top Trump advisor Jason Miller will launch GETTR, a new social media platform, on July 4, a launch date chosen to “symbolically declare independence from Big Tech,” according to a release from the company. “There is a clear need for a new social... Read More
News From The Well
