The FCC has set a formal compliance date for tougher sponsorship-identification rules governing foreign government-provided programming, capping an adjustment process that started in 2021.
The updated framework, adopted on a 3-2 vote in June 2024 and partially effective since August 15, requires radio and television licensees to verify whether airtime lessees are acting on behalf of a foreign governmental entity and to disclose that relationship at the time of broadcast. Licensees may either obtain an FCC-supplied certification from programmers or document search results from designated federal databases, with annual re-verification for long-term leases.
The rules are a revision of a 2021 order targeting broadcasters like Radio Sputnik in response to a 2022 DC Circuit ruling that mandated changes to identification requirements.
Key elements that demanded Office of Management and Budget review cleared that hurdle on May 19, and became effective upon Federal Register publication on June 10. The FCC Media Bureau then granted a six-month runway – expiring December 8 – for stations to bring all new leases and renewals into compliance.
Throughout the process, numerous radio operators had expressed concern that the process would be overly burdensome, with the NAB mounting a challenge to the OMB in January.
The NAB argued that the expanded requirements improperly target political and public service content and warned of chilling effects on protected speech. “The Order establishes an impermissible content-based regulation that ironically penalizes the most protected form of speech,” the NAB wrote, adding that the FCC failed to cite any example of foreign-sponsored political advertising.
The full set of new rules exempts traditional commercial advertisements but applies to issue advocacy spots and paid public-service announcements. Religious and non-political content is not exempt when sponsored by foreign principals. The Commission says the changes balance transparency with administrative flexibility, replacing what broadcasters had criticized as an exhaustive “duty of inquiry” in the voided 2021 order.
