Tennessee Senate OKs social media political disclosure bill

Friday, March 16, 2018, Vol. 42, No. 11

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that would spell out requirements to disclose who paid for sponsored political content on social media platforms.

The Republican-led Senate approved the legislation in a 17-8 vote Monday. It heads to the House.

The bill by Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Jeff Yarbro would require disclosure on the social media item itself or a link to another site with disclosure information.

Yarbro says Tennessee law currently implicitly requires disclosure for social media, but the bill would make it explicit.

Yarbro has pointed to a federal indictment charging 13 Russians with running a social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The indictment mentions a Twitter account made to resemble the Tennessee Republican Party's handle.