mr. vanderwalker? do you think that advertisers should be able to make money on foreign interference in our elections? >> well, i mean, i think within -- reasonably should be preventing foreign interference in our elections. and it logically follows from that that companies shouldn't be able to make a profit from it. >> any others? >> yes. i think the -- i think the question really needs to be refocused, because the issue is not whether, for example, somebody makes money off an ad, but whether an advertiser that's foreign is permitted to participate in u.s. elections. and i think that is one of the issues that if there is going to be further disclosure requirements, needs to be addressed. which is that online platforms like broadcasters have no enforcement authority. they -- if boris and natasha, who have been mentioned before, they say, yes, we're u.s. citizens, and -- or we have a u.s. company, they -- either an online platform or newspaper or a tv station have no way, really, to determine whether th

mr. ian vanderwalker. senior counsel for brennan center for justice democracy program at the new york university school of law. welcome to you all. and pursuant to committee laws, all witnesses will be sworn in before you testify. please rise and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? thank you. let the record reflect that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. in order to allow time for discussion, please limit your opening testimony to five minutes and your entire written statement will be made part of the record. i appreciate those written statements. it really was helpful in better understanding these issues. for those who are looking for great outline of these questions we're going to be debating here today, i would suggest you go to the oversight website to review those statements. as a reminder, the clock in front of you shows your time remaining. the light will turn yell

mr. ian vanderwalker. welcome to you all. and pursuant to committee laws, all witnesses will be sworn in before you testify. please rise and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? thank you. let the record reflect that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. in order to allow time for discussion, please limit your opening testimony to five minutes. and your entire written statement will be made part of the record. i appreciate your statements, it was helpful in better understanding these issues. for those who are looking for

mr. vanderwalker, can you help me understand then given your perspective on it, we're going to allow the federal government to term what is appropriate content in social media? we're going to have them determine, well, that's a political ad, that's not? we're going to leave it up to a group of people to decide that? >> well, no. the idea is to incorporate an existing framework that already is out there. it's a bright line test. candidate mentions within a certain time period above a certain spending threshold. >> clearly, the bright line hasn't worked. reality is an awful lot of these posts are questioned as influencing the election. well outside the bright line. so who's going to determine that? >> well, again, the bright line keeps you from having someone have to determine it. certainly, there are things outside of the bright line, but, you know, having a bright line and having people understand that they can post if it's below a spending threshold protects speech and protects the ability of people to talk about legislative issues without having a decision maker have to make judgment c

mr. vanderwalker, can you help me understand then given your perspective on it, we're going to allow the federal government to term what is appropriate content in social media? we're going to have them determine, well, that's a political ad, that's not? we're going to leave it up to a group of people to decide that? >> well, no. the idea is to incorporate an existing framework that already is out there. it's a bright line test. candidate mentions within a certain time period above a certain spending threshold. >> clearly, the bright line hasn't worked. reality is an awful lot of these posts are questioned as influencing the election. well outside the bright line. so who's going to determine that? >> well, again, the bright line keeps you from having someone have to determine it. certainly, there are things outside of the bright line, but, you know, having a bright line and having people understand that they can post if it's below a spending threshold protects speech and protects the ability of people to talk about legislative issues without having a decision maker have to make judgment c