Arriving Somewhere

The Federal Election Commission is reviewing its regulations concerning political speech on the internet as a federal court has ordered them to draw up new rules to govern campaign financing spent on the web. While I’m all for campaign finance reform, the FEC had better tread lightly when it comes to free speech on the internet.

Google News: http://tinyurl.com/8437x
QandO: The Speech Police

Bloglines founder Mark Fletcher wrote a statement to be delivered to the Committee on House Administration, which is met yesterday to consider the subject.

The following is the entire statement.

Chairman Ney and Members of the Committee:

On behalf of Bloglines and our users, I am pleased to provide the following statement concerning regulation of political speech on the Internet. Bloglines, founded in 2003, is a free online service for searching, subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content. The company is a property of Ask Jeeves, Inc., a wholly-owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp, and is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We believe it’s critical for us to speak out on behalf of individual bloggers who, while empowered by the Internet, have a limited capacity to carry messages to Congress. We commend you and the Committee for convening this hearing and focusing needed attention on this issue.

We urge Congress and the FEC to ensure that the Internet, particularly blog activity, remains free from campaign finance regulation. While regulation of campaign financing plays an important role in maintaining public confidence in our political system, we believe the significant public policy interests in encouraging the Internet as a forum for free or low-cost speech and open information exchange should stand paramount.

Linking to campaign websites, quoting from or republishing campaign materials and even providing a link for donations to a candidate, if done without compensation, should not result in a blog being deemed to have made a contribution to a campaign or trigger reporting requirements.

Blogs permit the expression of and access to a diversity of political opinions and other information on a scale never before seen. This speech must remain free and not be discouraged by burdensome regulation. As such, it should be explicit that the activities of bloggers are covered by the press exemption of Sections 100.73 and 100.132.

Should the FEC fail to provide this critical protection to Internet activity, or if courts determine the Commission lacks statutory authority, we urge Congress to promptly move legislation to achieve the goal. Thank you for this opportunity to share our comments on this important issue.

I hope we don’t have to resort to using this: Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents

technorati tag: free speech, censorship, campaign finance reform, FEC