Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) concluded the use of fraudulent misrepresentation utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in federal campaign advertisements is already covered by existing campaign finance law.

Going forward, the Commission will proceed with any application of allegations of fraud using AI or other specific technologies under 52 U.S.C. §30124  on a case-by-case basis.

On July 13, 2023, a Petition for Rulemaking was submitted to the FEC asking it to undertake a rulemaking “to clarify that the law against ‘fraudulent misrepresentation’ (52 U.S.C. § 30124) applies to deliberately deceptive AI produced content in campaign communications.” The Federal Election Campaign Act currently prohibits any person from falsely representing that they are speaking, writing, or acting on behalf of a federal candidate or a political party for the purpose of soliciting contributions. The law also prohibits a candidate, his or her employee or agent, or an organization under the candidate’s control, from purporting to speak, write, or act for another candidate or political party on a matter that is damaging to the other candidate or party.

Through the Commission’s approval of two drafts of a Notification of Disposition, REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads), and an Interpretive Rule Regarding 52 U.S.C. §30124, the Commission decided not to initiate a rulemaking.

Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum stated a clear answer has been given as to whether generative-AI applies to the existing campaign finance laws. In today’s FEC’s open meeting, Lindenbaum stated,  “Yes, the statute is technology neutral. So, I think we have given a very clear response today.”

On January 29, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold.

The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2024 from $21,800 to $22,700.

This threshold amount is adjusted annually.

Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs.

Additionally, the FEC published its adjusted Coordinated Party Expenditure Limits for political parties for 2024.

On March 1, 2024, the Federal Election Commission new rules eliminating and updating references to outdated technologies in federal campaign finance regulations are expected to come into effect.

The Final Rules and an Explanation and Justification for Technological Modernization, approved by the FEC at their last meeting in December, attempts to modernize the commission’s regulations in light of technological advances in communications, recordkeeping, and financial transactions.

A significant part of the rulemaking is amending the definition of “public communication” and adopting a new term, “internet public communication,” to include communications over the internet that are “placed or promoted for a fee on another person’s website, digital device, application, or advertising platform. A public communication is promoted for a fee where a payment is made to a website, digital device, application, or advertising platform in order to increase the circulation, prominence, or availability of the communication on that website, digital device, application, or advertising platform.”

The intent is to ensure that political committees properly disclose their paid internet communications and help to prevent the circumvention of disclaimer requirements.

The FEC also concluded that many of the current regulations do not account for technological developments in how electronic documents are created, maintained, and submitted, particularly in the context of electronic transactions. The rules make regulatory revisions to facilitate electronic accounting, recordkeeping, reporting, and redesignation by political committees.

The Final Rules will be published in the Federal Register at a future date.

On December 14, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) elected Sean J. Cooksey as its chairman for 2024.

Cooksey replaces Dara Lindenbaum, who was appointed to the commission in 2022.

The chairmanship is a rotating, one-year position.

Ellen L. Weintraub was elected as Vice Chair for the next year.

Additionally, at the same regularly held open meeting, the FEC unanimously approved 16 legislative recommendations be submitted for consideration to the U.S. Congress.

The recommendations concern subject matters such as establishing an itemization threshold for conduit contributions; increasing the rate of pay for FEC commissioners, staff director and general counsel; amending the foreign national prohibition to include substantial assistance; and amending the foreign national prohibition to include state and local ballot initiatives, referenda and recall elections.

On August 10, the Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to addressing “deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) campaign advertisements.”

On July 13, the commission had received a Petition for Rulemaking asking the FEC to make it clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive AI campaign advertisements.

In response, the FEC issued REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads) Draft Notification of Availability to seek written public comments on the Petition.

The notification will be published in the Federal Register at a future date along with the deadline for comments, according to the FEC press release.

On March 1, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) Final Rule concerning internet communications disclaimers took effect. With it, the definition of public communication was revised in 11 CFR  §110.11 in an attempt to clarify how it applies to general public political advertising over the internet.

The amendments to the rules for internet-specific disclaimer requirements endeavor to be analogous to those for print and broadcast media, while also accounting for the unique characteristics of internet public communications, according to the FEC. The new internet disclaimer provisions do not impose the stand-by-your-ad requirements applicable to radio and television advertisements.

The FEC stated it adopted these updates to the regulatory rules “in light of technological advances since the Commission last revised its rules governing internet disclaimers in 2006, and to address questions from the public about the application of those rules to internet communications,” according to the memorandum submitted earlier with a draft of the rule.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) published the 2023-2024 election cycle contribution limits, which have been indexed for inflation.

As required by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, the FEC must adjust certain contribution limits every two years.

The individual and nonmulticandidate PAC contribution limit to federal candidates has increased from $2,900 to $3,300 for both primary and general elections, allowing for a total of $6,600 for a federal candidate.

The limits on contributions by individuals to national party committees has increased from $36,500 to $41,300 per calendar year.

Individuals may now contribute $123,900 per calendar year to committees of a national political party for presidential nominating conventions, to committees of a national political party for preparation for and the conduct of election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings, and to committees of a national political party for the construction, purchase, renovation, operation, and furnishing of one or more buildings for party headquarters.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold.

The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2023 from $20,200 to $21,800.

This threshold amount is adjusted annually.

Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs.

The Federal Election Commission has announced its civil monetary penalty amounts, adjusted for inflation, for 2023.

The potential fines for civil violations of federal campaign finance laws have increased to range from $7,028 to $82,188, from the previous range of $6,523 to $76,280.

The amounts are calculated through a statutory formula applying the most recent “cost-of-living adjustment multiplier,” issued by the Office of Management and Budget, to the current amounts. The amended civil monetary penalties took effect as of December 29, 2022, the publication date in the Federal Register.

On December 1, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) formally approved a Final Rule and Explanation and Justification revising its disclaimer requirements for certain public communications placed for a fee on the internet. The FEC stated it is adopting these updates to the regulatory rules “in light of technological advances since the Commission last revised its rules governing internet disclaimers in 2006, and to address questions from the public about the application of those rules to internet communications,” according to the memorandum submitted with the approved draft.

By amending 11 CFR  §110.11, the regulations will require that disclaimers appear on certain public communications made over the internet. Some communications will be permitted to include an “adapted disclaimer” when a full disclaimer cannot be provided or would occupy more than 25 percent of the communication due to space or character constraints. The final rule also revises the definition of “public communication.” The term now includes  “communications placed for a fee on another person’s website, digital device, application, or advertising platform.”

The FEC also approved another measure seeking comments on whether its definition of “public communication” or “internet public communications” should also include internet communications that are “promoted for a fee” on another person’s website, digital device, application, or advertising platform. The Supplemental Notice will be published in the Federal Register at a future date. The goal of these proposals is to apply the Federal Election Campaign Act’s disclaimer requirements to general public political advertising on the internet and to revise the definition of “public communication” to clarify how it applies to such advertising.

The FEC must now transmit the approved regulations to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate for a thirty-legislative-day review period.

On November 17, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) will consider updating regulations concerning disclaimers on public communications on the internet.

The 48-page draft to be considered relates to adopting final regulatory rules “in light of technological advances since the Commission last revised its rules governing internet disclaimers in 2006, and to address questions from the public about the application of those rules to internet communications,” according to the memorandum submitted for the upcoming FEC meeting.

The goal of these proposals is to apply the Federal Election Campaign Act’s disclaimer requirements to general public political advertising on the internet and to revise the definition of “public communication” to clarify how it applies to such advertising.

On August 2, Dara Lindenbaum was sworn in as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

FEC Vice Chair Steven T. Walther, whom Lindenbaum is replacing, retired from the commission on August 1.

Lindenbaum, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May, has worked as an attorney with Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., and with the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

With the appointment of Lindenbaum, the FEC will consist of three registered members of the Republican Party, and three registered members of the Democratic Party. No more than three members of the FEC may be registered with the same political party.

On May 24, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Dara Lindenbaum to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

In January, FEC Vice Chair Steven T. Walther announced he would be stepping down as commissioner upon the nomination and confirmation of his replacement.

Lindenbaum, who was nominated by President Joe Biden on January 21, is currently an attorney with Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., previously worked with the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. According to her profile on her law firm’s website, she also currently serves as General Counsel to Stacey Abrams’ campaign for Governor of Georgia.

With the appointment of Lindenbaum, there will be three registered members of the Republican Party, and three registered members of the Democratic Party.

On May 17, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) made available its updated FEC Form 1, the Statement of Organization for Political Committees, which now includes designations for superPACs and Hybrid Committees.

SuperPACs, which are technically independent expenditure-only political committees, and Hybrid Committees, which in turn are committees with separate non-contribution accounts, were required to file separate letters along with the old FEC Form 1 to receive those designations.

Additionally, the FEC has also released a new version of FECFile, its Windows-based software system committees can use for electronic filing, and a new version of its online webform.