Michael Toner Quoted in Washington Post Story on FEC Internet Regulations

May 14, 2015

Michael E. Toner, co-chair of Wiley Rein’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was quoted in a May 12 Washington Post article about a Super PAC that plans to coordinate certain online activities with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The article discusses regulations that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) adopted in 2006, when Mr. Toner was FEC Chairman, that exempted large portions of online politics and Internet activities from FEC restriction.  The regulations adopted by the FEC in 2006 “totally exempt individuals who engage in political activity on the Internet from the restrictions of the campaign finance laws,” Mr. Toner said in a 2006 Washington Post story that was cited in the article.  “The exemption for individual Internet activity in the final rules is categorical and unqualified,” he added. The regulation “protects Internet activities by individuals in all forms, including e-mailing, linking, blogging, or hosting a website.”

The article can be found here.