New amendments to rules for providers of political advertising

New amendments to disclosure rules for providers of political advertising take effect March 7, 2022.

The adopted amendments make several changes to WAC 390-18-050, including:

• If an advertisement is not reasonably identifiable as a political ad at the time of purchase, the advertiser has three additional days after receiving a request to update its books of account to include the ad.
• When selling digital media services to be hosted on another platform or media, the advertiser must include a link or text box that tells the reader of the ad how to access information that’s required to be disclosed.
• A commercial advertiser must include the name of the candidate or ballot measure referenced in the ad in its books of account. But the commercial advertiser is not required to identify whether the ad supports or opposes any specific campaign.
• The ad provider must include in its records a copy of the ad and the date it was presented to the public.

 The Commission adopted the amendments in January 2022.

If you have questions about these changes, contact the PDC at pdc@pdc.wa.gov.