Government is now regulating blogging.

The Federal Trade Commission’s decided Monday to make product information and online reviews more accurate for consumers. 

The FTC is actually regulating blogging for the first time and is requiring that testimonials reflect typical results.

The entire issue about blogging, websites and advertising has been a major question for years.  Initially, during the Clinton Administration, there was a push to ensure that the Internet not be regulated at all.  The concern was that the Internet was in the nascent stage and that enforcement would be difficult since online content was international, not local, regional or national. 

The current FTC, however, is getting tougher on the web writers.  Based upon its decision on Monday, web writers will be required to disclose what they receive for their product reviews and that the testimonials must be more accurate. 

Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could result in various penalties including possible lawsuits.

The FTC wants testimonials to be specific about what consumers should truly expect from the products.  Also, disclosures must be “clear and conspicuous”.

The focus is more on advertisers than on bloggers. 

While I do not like government control or regulation of the Internet, if the Government is to get involved, perhaps it should expand beyond products and look at political sites.  It should also take a more scrutinizing look at certain practices of competitive media.  

Within the web political realm, there are various web sites, e-newsletters and blogs that are really fronts for political candidates, officials and policy positions.  We never know who is paying the freight for the site, but, we can tell from the skewed editorial content and the articles that the publisher has been bought.   It is one thing for the publisher to have strong and open positions.  It is another for the publisher to be paid to skew the presentation of the information.  

Then, there are those other media advertorials.  So often, we see respected media outlets showcase various companies and we have no clue if there has been any quid pro quo in the promotion

Without doubt, the consumer or even the readers of political web sites and  viewers, listeners and readers of other media have a right to know if the media is biased—paid for by an outside source in money or in kind.  It is always better if industries engage in self-regulation rather than government stepping into the fray.  But, when we see outrageous and obvious violations of the public trust by some of these media outlets, somebody should be held accountable and starting with the advertiser would be a good first, but not final step.