The move by Sen. John McCain marks a win for the bill's Democratic authors, who have been working for weeks to secure GOP support. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo McCain signs on to Democrats' Facebook ad disclosure bill

Sen. John McCain has become the first Republican to sign on to a draft bill from Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Mark Warner that would increase the transparency of political advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook.

The move, announced Wednesday, marks a win for the bill's Democratic authors, who have been working for weeks to secure GOP support.


The proposed legislation, the Honest Ads Act, is an offshoot of the investigations into Russia's use of Facebook, Twitter and Google to influence the 2016 election. It would create federal disclosure requirements for political ads sold online — including who paid for them — so they are "covered by the same rules as ads sold on TV, radio, and satellite," according to a news release.

"This is the first substantive bipartisan piece of legislation that’s trying to — with a very light touch, because we don’t want to slow down innovation, or restrict free speech or people’s access to the internet — to deal with the problem that we saw in 2016 in terms of foreign interference in our electoral process," Warner told reporters.

McCain said he backed the bill “for the same reason I have been for transparency in campaign finance reform for the last 25 years." He said he didn't know if other Republicans would get on board or if GOP leadership supports the proposal.

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As POLITICO previously reported, lobbyists for Facebook and Google have sought early input on the draft bill. Klobuchar said the measure did not yet have the support of tech companies.