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Advocacy Blog
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Robocalls, a First Amendment Right?
An opinion piece in Politico defends the use of political robocalls.
Political robocalls can often be annoying. They may come during the dinner hour, slant the truth or even peddle outright falsehood. They can arrive several times a day — perhaps even more often than that near Election Day, if you live in a hotly contested state. [. . .] While robocalls may be conveyed by machines with artificial intelligence, at their core, these calls are citizen-to-citizen communication about the political issues of the day. Such speech is First Amendment activity, and limiting it should not be undertaken lightly. [. . .] Congress should respect the fact that robocalls offer an easy, effective and inexpensive means of communication that gives the recipient an opportunity to learn more about an issue or a candidate. It should tread lightly when contemplating this issue and consider only speech-sensitive proposals.
The article references a bill introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008, S. 2624. "Feinstein voiced support for amending the Federal Do Not Call Registry to add robocalls to its list of prohibited communications. Such an amendment would be very unwise and would likely be unconstitutional. The Do Not Call Registry is premised on the idea that Congress has been given great leeway under the Constitution to regulate commercial speech — telemarketers selling insurance and diet pills, for example." The author suggests that there are some provisions of the bill that could be permissible, such as restricting calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.
In addition, the American Association of Political Consultants is planning on opposing efforts to regulate political robocalls for the same reasons, citing First Amendment objections. "The AAPC's 'First Amendment Legal Defense Fund' has sent out an appeal for donations to thousands of consultants to help fund what it anticipates could be a long legal fight." The letter clarifies that legislators should instead call on the responsible use of robocalls.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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