NPRM Tees Up Requiring Disclosures on Broadcasts Sponsored by Foreign Entities

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an NPRM proposing to require disclosures at the time of broadcast when TV and radio stations are paid “directly or indirectly” to air content by a foreign entity, said a release Tuesday. Disclosure would also be required if programming were “provided to the station free of charge by such an entity as an inducement to broadcast the material,“ the release said. “With some station content coming from the likes of China and Russia, it is time to update our rules and shed more sunlight on these practices,” Pai said. Current rules don’t specify how foreign government sponsorship should be disclosed to the public, but the proposed rules would provide standardized language identifying the country involved, the release said. The text wasn’t released. House Democrats urge Pai to act against what they called Russian propaganda broadcast in the U.S. before the 2020 election (see 2002130060). “Americans are currently in the process of deciding who they will elect to lead our country, and it’s critical that they are not unknowingly influenced by foreign propaganda,” said a February letter to Pai from Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and others.