BOE to Promulgate New Regulations on August 9 Defining Scope of Legislation
Nation’s Strongest Ad Transparency Legislation—Championed by Governor Cuomo this Year—Imposes Penalty of up to $1,000 for Each Violation
Governor Cuomo: “While the Trump administration turns a blind eye to meddling in our elections, New York is leading the way to protect our democracy. I call on the State Board of Elections officials to advance the strongest regulations possible to fully enforce our online transparency laws and ensure that social media sites that are used to spread disinformation are held accountable.”
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today called on the State Board of Elections to issue the strongest possible regulations of the State’s new online political ad transparency laws to ensure aggressive enforcement following revelations of fake accounts on Facebook linked to a Russian campaign to influence the midterm elections. In April, the Governor signed the New York State Democracy Protection Act, the strongest and most comprehensive legislation in the nation, to ensure transparency in all political advertising and to protect New York elections from foreign influence.
BOE is scheduled to promulgate new regulations on August 9 defining online platforms and creating a database of all political advertisements purchased by a person or group for publication on the platform.
“Our election system is the backbone of our democracy, and social media sites have a responsibility to do everything they can to combat foreign attempts to interfere in our elections,” Governor Cuomo said. “While the Trump administration turns a blind eye to meddling in our elections, New York is leading the way to protect our democracy. I call on the State Board of Elections officials to advance the strongest regulations possible to fully enforce our online transparency laws and ensure that social media sites that are used to spread disinformation are held accountable.”
The FY 2019 Budget expanded New York State’s definition of political communication to include paid internet and digital advertisements; required State Board of Elections to maintain a file of all political advertisements purchased by a person or group for publication on the platform; and required online platforms confirm that foreign individuals and entities are not purchasing political advertisements in order to influence the New York electorate. Any individual or organization that fails to comply with the requirements of the law shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation.
Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York has also taken significant action to protect elections from cyberattacks. Last month, Governor Cuomo also announced a comprehensive initiative with the State Board of Elections to further secure New York State’s election infrastructure and protect against foreign interference. The initiative will help county Boards of Elections strengthen their election cyber security in the face of foreign threats following a Department of Justice indictment charging 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking during the 2016 elections. The indictment also alleged that Russian intelligence officers hacked into the website of a yet-unidentified state board of elections.
