Here's a few good reasons for getting money out of politics. The FTC needs more resources. Especially, they need more authority and additional resources in order to deal with regulations over political spending on social media and podcasts.
A prime example of how astroturfing works is the Tea Party movement. Much of the personal and organizational political content on social media and in podcasts is astroturfing, and much of that is sponsored in one way or another.
There is practically no oversight when it comes to this. Oversight, when it comes to paid advertising for products and services on digital media, is addressed to a certain extent. The FEC regulates political spending on explicit ads which appear on websites, but it isn't clear how regulations apply to spending on influencer speech in social media and podcasts. When it comes to political spending on influencer speech or visuals conveyed over digital media, which isn't explicit advertising, FEC regulations are incomplete and difficult to enforce. Oversight issues come down to freedom of speech vs. political spending on shady campaign promotions.
The FTC should have responsibility for this because the FEC isn't poised to deal with it, and they have been struggling to effectively regulate online political ads. When someone or something is selling politics, it's the same as selling anything else. These influencers often take a branded approach. Political spending, when it comes to this, is enough to sway the entire political spectrum.
Additional resources for the FTC should include provisions in order to deal with dark money in this type of political sponsorship.
