Political Broadcast Rules on the Agenda for FCC’s January Open Meeting

On January 27, 2022, the FCC will hold its monthly open meeting. The meeting will address increasing the transparency of internet access service providers, amending the definition of a library to clarify that Tribal libraries are eligible for support from the E-Rate program, and resolving issues associated with white space devices and databases. The most pertinent item on the agenda, however, is the Revision to Political Programming and Record-Keeping Rules.

This revision applies to broadcast licensees, cable television system operators, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service providers, and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) licensees. The Report and Order, if adopted, will revise the definition of legally qualified candidate for public office" to add the creation of a campaign website and the use of social media to promote or further a campaign for public office. The Report and Order also will revise the political file rules to extend the political record-keeping requirements to any advertising-time purchase requests.

The meeting will be available for public viewing via live feed on the FCC's website.