A complaint had been filed with the commission claiming Wagman’s ads violated elections law because they didn’t include disclaimers declaring them “political advertisement paid for and approved by Scott Wagman for mayor.”
The candidate said there wasn’t room on those small, hypertext links. One click on those ads led to his campaign Web site, which Wagman said did run the disclaimer.
“Obama and McCain were doing the same thing,” he said. “We didn’t think it was hoodwinking the American public to see an ad on the side of a (Web) page. They know what happens if you click on it. People get it.”
But while this case may be closed, the implications of online media in future campaigns is still wide open in Florida.
That may be why the commission used the Wagman case to ask state lawmakers to take an updated look at elections laws in a new era of online campaigning and social networking.
“Due to various technological advances and the increased use of electronic advertising in political campaigns … ,” the commission wrote, “the Legislature should address this issue.” You can read the rest of this story here.
