Regulation of Online Political Ads Becomes Law in Maryland.

The Online Electioneering Transparency and Accountability Act, which became law in Maryland on May 25, 2018, means that social media companies and websites with significant traffic that do business in Maryland will need to follow the same type of regulations regarding political advertising as television, radio, and print media.  This includes the tracking the source of all political ads and recording which users are being targeted by those ads.  Some of the goals of the new law are to: document who is behind political ads, bar foreign currency from use in Maryland elections, and to empower the Maryland State election officials to investigation companies about online ads and voter suppression.

Website owners who are concerned about the requirements of this new law or their ability to respond to State officials when required should reach out to their website manager to discuss what actions, if any, are needed to make sure that they are in compliance with this new law.

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