Relates to public-facing websites operated by political committees

• Democratic17
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Kristen Gonzalez says this is needed

Campaign finance transparency is a central pillar of any healthy democ- racy. It is widely recognized that individuals and interest groups commonly seek to influence the policymaking process by sponsoring-either through direct financial contributions or through independent expendi- tures-the election bids of candidates whose political dispositions align with their own policy objectives. Accordingly, for voters to be able to identify which candidates are most apt to advance their preferences and interests, it is imperative that they have the tools needed to evaluate the credibility of the voluminous political messaging they encounter during each election cycle. For this reason, the State of New York has afforded voters the opportu- nity to "peek under the hood"-i.e., to see which donors have left a footprint in a given political contest-by requiring political commit- tees, including independent expenditure committees, to disclose the sources of the donations they receive. Essential to this framework of transparency is the requirement that political communications feature "paid for by" disclaimers that allow voters to identify the expenditure committee responsible for a specific communication. In 2018, New York responded to the increasing prevalence of Internet- based political communications by updating the Election Law to require that most digital advertisements contain a disclaimer; however, the state neglected to follow federal law in requiring that all public-fac- ing websites paid for, hosted, and/or operated by political committees also contain such disclaimers. This bill builds on the 2018 reforms by adding websites to the list of political communications that must contain a disclaimer, and by establishing that websites intended to influence an election qualify as independent expenditures. In 2024, New York passed laws curbing materially deceptive media and the use of artificial intelligence and other means of content generation to create "deepfakes" that deceive voters. This legislation is in line with New York's recent drive to increase transparency in elections and ensure that voters are fully informed about the nature of political communi- cations and those groups behind them.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.