At its September 2019 meeting, the Commission authorized a Digital Transparency Task Force to conduct research into digital transparency in California with the main goals of helping Californian voters identify who is responsible for and who paid for each political ad they receive and to help navigate a national conversation on digital ad transparency.

• Digital Transparency Task Force Report and Recommendations (2021)
• Digital Transparency Task Force Mission Statement
• Digital Transparency Task Force Timeline

California Laws

Current California Laws and regulations pertaining to digital ads and digital transparency.

• AB 249 DISCLOSE Act
• AB 2155 Amendments to the DISCLOSE Act
• AB 2188 Social Media DISCLOSE Act
• AB 201 Mass Text Message Disclsoure
• AB 864 Amendments to the DISCLOSE ACT
• 18435. Definitions. Mass Mailing.
• 18450.1. Definitions. Advertisement Disclsoure.
• 18450.2. Definitions. Authorized and Paid For.
• 18450.3. Top Contributor Disclosure for Affiliated Entities. 
• 18450.4. Video and Television Advertisement Disclsoure. 

Pending Legislation that may have potential impact.

• AB 1217 Disclose Act - Issue and Electioneering Ads

Library

A collection of relevant articles and presentations that give background to the issues at hand.

• SB 505 (CA 2015). Voter Bill of Rights.
• League of Women Voters Support Letter for SB 505
• Center for Civic Design: A Voter Bill of Rights in plain language for California.
• The More You Know: Voter Heuristics and the Information Search. (2018)
• Information at the Margin: Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge. (2013)
• Securing American Elections: Prescriptions for Enhancing the Integrity and Indpendence of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and Beyond. (2019)
• Show Me the Money: Candidate Selection Based on Campaign Finance Transparency. (2019) 
• Fool Me Once: Regulating "Fake News" and Other Online Advertising. (2018) 
• In the Shadows of Sunlight: The Effects of Transparency on State Political Campaigns. (2016) 
• Citizens United, States Divided: An Empirical Analysis of Independent Political Spending. (2014)
• Ad Delivery Alogirthms: The Hidden Arbiters of Political Messaging. (2019)
• Troll Hungers: 2 Clemson professors race to expose a shadowy force of Russion internet soldiers. (2020)
• Trump's Digital Advantage Is Freaking Out Democratic Strategists. (2020)
• Where are the Platform Policy Changes Taking Us? (2019)
• What Special Counsel Mueller's Report Tells Us About Campaign Finance Law and Foreign Interference. (2019)
• Digital Deception: How a Major Democratic Dark Money Group Exploited Digital Ad Loopholes in the 2019 Election. (2019)
• Dodging Disclosure: How Super PACs Used Reporting Loopholes and Digital Disclaimer Gaps to Keep Voters in the Dark in the 2018 Midterms. (2018)
• Trump, Twitter, and the Russians: The Growing Obsolescence of Federal Campaign Finance Law. (2017)
• Conterfeit Campaign Speech. (2019)
• Facebook reverses its policy on paid influencers after Bloomberg memes. (2020)
• Tens of thoursands of political ads on Facebook lacked key details about who paid for them, new report finds. (2020)
• Political ads are flooding Hulu, Roku and other streaming services, revealing loopholes in federal election laws. (2020)
• Potential Policy Proposals for Regulation of Social Media and Technology Firms. (2018)
• Seattle Takes on Citizens United. (2020)
• Washington Post v. McManus, 944 F.3d 506 (2019)
• Big Data, Big Dollars: Shining Light on Digital Political Advertising. Washington Public Disclsoure Commission Forum. (2020)

Ads Authorizations Process and The Ad Library (Facebook)

• Ads Authorization Resource Hub
• Getting Started with Facebook Ads
• Boosting Posts
• The Essential Guide to Facebook Ads
• How to Create an Ad on Facebook
• How to Advertise on Instagram

Meeting Agendas

View Digital Transparency Task Force Agendas