L.I. Senator Proposes Law To Combat Fake News On Facebook

State Senator Todd Kaminsky was joined by Senate Mority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and senators Michael Gianaris, John E. Brooks and Leroy Comrie on Tuesday to announce legislation aimed at preventing anonymous and false political attack ads on social media.

Kaminsky also released a letter he sent to Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of ‎Facebook, explaining how the social media platform was used to deceive New York voters in his district, and warning him of future deceptive ads.

"False, misleading, and anonymous advertisements mislead voters and harm our democracy — and it must end immediately," Kaminsky said. "Not another political ad should run on social media without voters knowing exactly who paid for it. It’s one thing to lie to a voter; it’s quite another to be able to do it anonymously, without any accountability. Political ads on television, in mail and new media platforms like Facebook should be transparent."

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The legislation would require that all political ads seen on social media clearly state who paid for them. Once enacted into law, campaigns and those trying to influence elections will no longer be able to avoid taking responsibility for the content of their political communications.

Right now in New York, many forms of political advertisements carry no disclosure requirement. This law would greatly expand the definition of a political advertisement and require ads to disclose on their face who has paid for them. This would cover digital and physical mail political advertisements, the vast majority of which are unregulated in New York State.

"Often legislation must catch up with technological advancements so the essence of a law’s intent doesn’t evaporate into the ether of outdated legal language," said Sen. John Brooks. "This bill addresses just such a situation. We can no longer allow hidden political groups to use the bullhorn of social media and other outlets to broadcast falsehoods whilst hiding behind a screen of anonymity or false identification. This bill will provide transparency in a political arena that sorely lacks it."

Last month, Facebook disclosed to federal investigators that it sold $100,000 worth of advertising to a buyer connected with the Russian government in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election. Here in New York, Facebook-sponsored ads by fake groups such as "NYS Public Schools" or "Stop the Corruption in Albany Now" have targeted voters to mislead them with attack ad campaigns.

" Last year, during my campaign for state Senate in New York, a continuous stream of anonymous, extremely misleading and downright false ads attacking my credibility ran on Facebook," Kaminsky wrote in his letter to Mark Zuckerberg. "Some of these ads asserted I had the opposite position on important issues than actually I do. Some claimed that I had done things which I have not. These ads were 'sponsored' by anonymously funded user groups such as 'The Real Todd Kaminsky.' We do not know who paid for these messages and will likely never know who exactly spread these lies."

In response, Facebook recently committed to stricter review of political ads, requirements that the purchasers of ads be identified, and an effort to prevent fake news. But those are internal policies, not laws. The bill announced today would ensure that, at the very least, New York political ads are published transparently online by holding the author accountable.

Photo: Todd Kaminsky's Office