FCC Votes To Post Public File Online

The FCC Thursday voted to give the public easier access to data about advertising spending by presidential candidates and other political campaigns, requiring pay-TV providers and radio stations to post the information on an Internet database.

The 5-0 vote expands a requirement that was placed on TV broadcasters in 2012 to make their so-called public files available on a central agency database instead of forcing people to physically view paper files at stations.

Going Online

The expanded rules are expected to go into effect in time for the heavy political ad spending leading up to the November presidential and congressional elections.

"These days, it doesn’t make sense for hard copies of the documents to gather dust in forlorn file cabinets," said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, a Republican.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said the agency's rules were outdated and left  the public data "locked in the information practices of the past."

"This kind of requirement may have made sense in the 'Mad Men' era, but it makes no sense in the digital age," she said of the old rules on public access.

Broadcast TV carries the most political advertising, the FCC said. But ad spending on pay TV and other media is growing so there was a need to expand the online access requirement.

The LA Times reports the new rules apply to most cable and satellite TV providers, as well as broadcast and satellite radio.

The rules are expected to take effect in three to six months, after publication in the Federal Registers and a review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

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