Destroy Citizens United! — Here’s an easy and effective activists’ guide that works.

This article contains a step-by-step set of instructions on how ordinary citizens may exercise a little-known right to file a complaint over false third-party issue ads. Citizen complaints initiate an investigation at the Federal Communications Commission and also with local broadcast stations. The process only works when citizens use it.

SAVE and SHARE — You’re going to want this information at your fingertips as the midterm elections draw nearer.

Do you utterly despise the Americans for Prosperity Super PAC, loathe the Koch brothers, and long for the day that Citizens United is overturned?

There’s finally something you can do about it.

Ordinary citizens can, and should, do exactly what U. S. Representative Gary Peters did when he stopped the patently false claims made in an AFP third-party issue ad. Here’s how it was done:

IT’S THE LAW!

Ads in which the facts just don’t add-up, or cannot be verified, are prohibited by the Federal Communications Commission. They will exercise their authority by ordering stations to pull them from the air — but they cannot do so without your participation.

A legitimate complaint must be filed from a member of the viewing/listening public. A complaint is necessary before officials are prompted to investigate.

Anyone can do it — it doesn’t have to be a government official, or a person unfairly smeared in an ad.

The people at FLACKCheck.org (a division of FactCheck.org focused on citizen education and activism) make the cogent argument that when ads with factual errors are pulled in just a few market areas, it results in the same ad being pulled across the board. A little bit of activism can go a long way.

As a campaign manager, I regularly worked with T.V. and radio stations on media buys. At one local TV affiliate, they have a policy of briefing political candidates on the FCC rules. Every year we were tutored on the legal difference between candidate ads and third-party issue ads. While candidate committees are in a special legal category, permitting them to pretty much get away with saying anything they want, — not so third-party issue ads (like those from Americans for Prosperity). They are bound by the same rules as all other advertisements — they must be truthful. The affiliate salesperson, without fail, always expressed a certain wonderment that viewers never exercised their right to complain about the increasingly dubious material on the air.

You possess the power to bring down a misleading third-party political ad. And, it only takes a few minutes of your time. The FCC and your local affiliate stations do all the serious investigative work — your only job is to make them aware of a possible problem. But, without your input, they won’t lift a finger.

As reported in the in the trade journal TV News Check column “Legal Memo” they explain it thus:

The FCC has a long history of expecting stations, as part of their overall obligation to operate in the public interest, to avoid knowingly airing false claims in commercial advertising. That principle spills over to political ads, at least by noncandidates when a station has been made aware of the alleged falsity. There can also be potential liability for money damages, cease and desist orders, libel and slander, and the bother and expense of answering a complaint filed in court or at the FCC, by a candidate who claims to be the victim of false statements broadcast in noncandidate political ads.

As many already know, Rep. Peters recently exercised his right to lodge a complaint with the FCC over the veracity of a widely aired AFP attack ad on the Affordable Care Act. Most of us have seen the ad featuring Julie Boonstra of Dexter, Michigan. She made a number of claims that stretched credulity about her supposed experience under “Obamacare”. The outright deceitful statements in the ad earned it a rating of two Pinocchios with the fact checkers at the Washington Post. Peters alerted the FCC, and AFP responded by pulling the ad and plastering the airways and the internet with a new Boonstra pack of lies that resulted in a three Pinocchio score. It’s almost comical the way they are buttressing lies with lies — hoping nobody will notice.

But we noticed, and so has the FCC.

CITIZENS GUIDE TO FIGHTING BACK:

Step One: Gather a few facts.

Identify the questionable ad with the name of sponsor (“paid for by…”) and a brief description — a YouTube hyperlink would help. Make sure it’s a third-party ad, and not a direct candidate ad. The fact-checker sites listed below will make that important distinction.

Determine what T.V. or radio station affiliates ran the questionable ad in your area.

Determine the time, and show during which the ad was aired — keep a pen and paper ready while watching T.V. or listening to the radio.

You must specify the questionable material or known lie(s). Although not required, it helps to cite a reliable fact-checking source in the media disputing the veracity of the ad. If sourcing a specific fact-check site, offer a hyperlink or a web address. Here are three reliable fact-checker sites: Michigan Truth Squad; The Washington Post Fact Checker; and FactCheck.org.

Step Two: File an online FCC complaint.



Go to the FCC complaint page found at www.fcc.gov/complaints

Check the “Broadcast (TV and radio), Cable and Satellite Issues” option.

Next, check the “Deceptive or unlawful advertising or marketing by a communications company”.

Next, indicate you wish to file online.

Then proceed to Form 2000A, where you will supply some basic contact information before describing your complaint, which is limited to 1000 characters..

If you are citing a TV or radio ad, complete the second section of the form. Located at the bottom of the page is a spot to attach files if you wish.

Step Three: File a separate complaint with the TV or radio station(s). While not required by the FCC, this is an important way to put them on notice and move the investigation along. FLACKcheck.org provides a user-friendly site with links to email for all the stations in the United States. When you describe your complaint, be sure to mention that it has also been lodged with the FCC.



That’s it. You’ve performed an important service in the name of democracy. Good work!

Amy Kerr Hardin