Russian operatives bought ads on Facebook to influence the U.S. presidential election. Could they do something similar in Massachusetts?

Advocates for campaign finance reform are pushing for bills in the Massachusetts Legislature that would prohibit companies that have significant foreign ownership from making political expenditures in Massachusetts elections.

"We need to make sure elections are about Americans and us controlling our political process and we don't have interference with the democratic process," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a good government group.

Ron Fein, legal director of the Newton-based Free Speech for People, which opposes corporate influence in elections, said the idea for the bill predates reports of Russia meddling in the 2016 election. "But the Russian interference demonstrates exactly how it could happen," Fein said.

By law, foreigners cannot contribute money to U.S. political campaigns. But the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision made it possible for corporations to make unlimited political expenditures as long as they do not coordinate directly with a candidate. Under that ruling, a foreign entity can set up a U.S.-based corporation and use it to buy political ads.

Facebook recently disclosed to Congress that Russian operatives bought ads through phony Facebook pages and accounts in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Three Massachusetts bills, S 394, H 2081 and H 2904, would prohibit foreign-influenced companies from making political expenditures. A foreign-influenced company would be defined as one where one foreign person owns at least 5 percent of the company or two foreign owners own at least 20 percent.

The bill would require companies that spend money in state elections to certify that they are not foreign-influenced.

Approximately one-tenth of S&P 500 corporations, which are the biggest publicly traded companies, have a foreign shareholder who owns more than 5 percent of shares. The numbers may be higher for private corporations, according to the bill's advocates.

The bill had a hearing Wednesday before the Joint Committee on Election Laws.

"The legislation would help ensure that the financing of our state elections is protected from foreign corporate influence," Wilmot said in testimony before the committee.

The potential prohibition could affect foreign corporations that have legitimate interests in Massachusetts, such as business investments. Asked about that, Fein said, "We obviously want to welcome foreign investment in the United States, but at the same time, when foreign investors participate in our economy, that doesn't give them the right to participate in our democracy on the same footing as citizens of the United States or voters in Massachusetts."

Fein said a foreign investor's interest is only in their business investment, not the "whole set of considerations" that Massachusetts voters would base their vote on.

Harvard Law School professors Lawrence Tribe and Charles Fried both submitted letters to the committee in support of the legislation, offering their opinions that the bills are constitutional and consistent with prior court rulings that limited the ability of foreign nationals to participate in U.S. elections.

"It has long been a principle of federal and state campaign finance regulations that interference in U.S. elections by foreign persons, entities, or governments may be forbidden, and punished if and when they do occur," Fried wrote.