Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., will announce a bill Thursday aiming to rein in political ads on platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The proposal, co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will mark one of the biggest moves yet in Washington to check the influential technology giants.
It follows Russia-linked groups’ purchase of ads on Facebook and Google during last year’s presidential election. The U.S. government describes those efforts as part of Moscow’s broad campaign to influence the 2016 election.
The senators want social media companies to take more steps to stop foreign individuals or organizations from buying political ads and be more transparent about who buys ads on their platforms.
The measure would put internet and digital ads under the definition of electioneering communications that currently includes traditional media, according to Axios. They would have to keep detailed public records about ads they sell above a certain threshold, as well.
Source: Tech CNBC
Watch: Senators unveil plan to rein in big social media companies