(a) This section applies to an electronic media advertisement if either of the following is true:
(1) The advertisement is paid for by a committee other than a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate.
(2) The advertisement is paid for by a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, and is either of the following:
(A) Paid for by an independent expenditure.
(B) An advertisement supporting or opposing a ballot measure.
(b) An electronic media advertisement that is a graphic, image, animated graphic, or animated image that the online platform hosting the advertisement allows to link to an internet website paid for by a committee shall comply with both of the following:
(1) Include the text “Who funded this ad?,” “Paid for by,” or “Ad Paid for by” in a contrasting color and a font size that is easily readable by the average viewer for the duration of the advertisement.
(2) The text shall be included or displayed as a hyperlink, icon, button, or tab to an internet website containing the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, and 84506.5 in a contrasting color and in no less than 8-point font.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the text required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) is not required if including the language in an 8-point font would take up more than one-third of the graphic or image. In those circumstances, the advertisement need only include a hyperlink to an internet website containing the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, and 84506.5.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b) and (c), an email message or internet website paid for by a committee shall include the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, and 84506.5 printed clearly and legibly in a contrasting color and in no less than 8-point font at the top or bottom of the email message, or at the top or bottom of every publicly accessible page of the internet website, as applicable.
(e) An internet website that is linked as provided for in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall remain online and available to the public until 30 days after the date of the election in which the candidate or ballot measure supported or opposed by the advertisement was voted upon.
(f) An advertisement made via a form of electronic media that is audio only and therefore cannot include either of the disclosures in subdivision (b) shall comply with the disclosure requirements for radio advertisements in Section 84504.
(g) An electronic media advertisement that is disseminated as a video shall comply with the disclosure requirements of Sections 84504.1 and 84504.5, depending on the type of committee that paid for it. If the video is longer than 30 seconds, the disclosures required by Sections 84504.1 and 84504.5 shall be made at the beginning of the advertisement.
(h) (1) An advertisement made via a form of electronic media that allows users to engage in discourse and post content, or any other type of social media, shall only be required to include the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, and 84506.5 in a contrasting color that is easily readable by the average viewer and in no less than 10-point font on the cover or header photo of the committee’s profile, landing page, or similar location and shall not be required to include the disclosure required by subdivision (b) on each individual post, comment, or other similar communication. The disclosures specified in this subdivision shall be fully visible on the cover or header photo when the profile, landing page, or similar location is viewed from any electronic device that is commonly used to view this form of electronic media, including, but not limited to, a computer screen, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if making the disclosures specified in paragraph (1) fully visible on a commonly used electronic device would be impracticable, the cover or header photo of the profile, landing page, or similar location need only include a hyperlink, icon, button, or tab to an internet website containing the disclosures specified in paragraph (1).
(i) The disclosures required by this section do not apply to advertisements made via social media for which the only expense or cost of the communication is compensated staff time unless the social media account where the content is posted was created only for the purpose of advertisements governed by this title.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 777, Sec. 6.5) by Stats. 2019, Ch. 558, Sec. 7. (AB 864) Effective January 1, 2020.)