Truth in advertising, offline or online

Deceiving consumers has long been illegal. Guidelines demanding that people who endorse a product for money disclose their connections with advertisers date back to 1980–way before the age of tweets. In 1968, an F.T.C. advisory demanded that advertorials disclose that they were advertising, not editorial. Concerned over the potential growth of deceptive advertising online, the F.T.C. amended these guidelines recently to clarify that they also apply on blogs, Twitter and other forms of online communication. The rules offline should clearly apply online. This is a matter of principle, not medium, and the new rules are not an excessive burden. The guidelines state that endorsers must disclose payments in cash or in kind from companies whose products they endorse. Telling a commentator flogging a product online to disclose commercial ties does not constitute a challenge to free speech.