A. Prior to purchasing an online political advertisement from or promoting an online political advertisement on an online platform, a person shall identify himself to the online platform as an online political advertiser and certify to the online platform that he is permitted under state and local laws to lawfully purchase or promote for a fee online political advertisements.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-960

  • Advertisement: means any message appearing in the print media, on television, on radio, or on an online platform, that constitutes a contribution or expenditure under Chapter 9. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
  • Online platform: means any public-facing website, web application, or digital application, including a social network, ad network, or search engine, that sells advertisements. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
  • Online political advertisement: means an advertisement that is placed or promoted for a fee on an online platform. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
  • Online political advertiser: means any person who purchases an advertisement from an online platform or promotes an advertisement on an online platform for a fee. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. An online platform shall establish reasonable procedures to enable online political advertisers to comply with the identification and certification requirements of subsection A.

C. An online platform may rely in good faith on the information provided by online political advertisers under this section when selling online political advertisements to online political advertisers.

2020, c. 551.