Despite public outcry over the rise of mis- and disinformation in political campaigns, there is little federal regulation of the content of election-related speech. Other than in the context of campaign finance, federal law is largely absent in this space. Existing federal laws governing political speech focus primarily on advertising, but even with regard to political advertising federal law is minimal and directed largely at traditional mediums of communication such as broadcast and print. Although federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have “truth in advertising” laws that target false or misleading content in advertisements, those laws apply only to advertisements affecting “commerce,” which the FTC has interpreted as limiting its jurisdiction to regulate political advertisements.
The states, however, have not held back. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have statutes that potentially regulate election-related speech, including the content of political advertising. Those statutes basically take one of two forms: statutes that directly target the content of election-related speech; and generally applicable statutes that indirectly implicate election-related speech by prohibiting intimidation or fraud associated with an election.
Laws can directly target the content of election-related speech in multiple ways. Some laws prohibit false and misleading factual statements about candidates for public office, while others prevent false statements about voting requirements or procedures. Several states have laws that prohibit a false statement of source or authorization for a political communication. Others have laws preventing false statements of endorsement or incumbency.
Although election laws prohibiting fraud and intimidation are often geared towards actual physical intimidation and coercion, these laws also may indirectly implicate election-related speech. At least one state attorney general has used voter intimidation laws to target false and misleading political communications. These laws may also be used to punish false statements within digital political advertisements.
Note: A number of states also impose sponsorship disclaimer and recordkeeping requirements on advertisers. You can review our summary of those laws here.
As part of this project, we have reviewed and compiled more than 125 state statutes that may impact the content of online election-related advertisements. You can read our analysis of these laws by downloading our report, State Regulation of Election-Related Speech in the U.S.: An Overview and Comparative Analysis.
You can also click on one of the states below to see a summary of statute(s) in that state. Each page outlines the relevant statutory provisions and provides a brief description of the restrictions the statutes impose as well as which types of advertisers and speakers they apply to. The pages also include a link to the full text of each statute.
This information is current as of January 1, 2021.