Big Tech to Report on Free Health Ads: New Bill Mandates Annual Disclosure of Public Service Advertising

This new bill, officially called the "Advancing Digital Support for Mental Health Services Act" (or ADS for Mental Health Services Act for short), is all about getting a clearer picture of how big online platforms are handling public service ads, especially those related to health.

Ads for Good: Tracking Public Service Announcements

The core of the bill is pretty straightforward: it requires major digital advertising platforms—think social media sites, search engines, and any other big website or app that sells ad space and has over 100 million monthly users—to report annually on the public service ads they run. This reporting isn't optional; it's a must-do, sent straight to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

• What gets reported? Platforms need to detail:
  • The number and percentage of ads that were public service announcements (PSAs) over the past year.
  • The estimated dollar value of these PSAs.
  • How many of these PSAs focused on local or regional mental, behavioral, and physical health resources.
  • How many promoted free mental, behavioral, or physical health resources.
  • How these ads actually qualify as "public service" (according to the bill's definition).

Real-World Rollout: How This Affects Your Feeds

Imagine you're scrolling through your favorite app. You might see ads for local businesses, new shoes, and occasionally, a PSA about mental health resources or a free health clinic. This bill aims to shed light on how often these PSAs show up and their estimated value. For example, if a platform is running a ton of ads, but only a tiny fraction are PSAs, that's something Congress wants to know. The bill defines a 'public service advertisement' as one that a platform displays for free, promotes health resources (mental, behavioral, or physical), and is relevant and accessible to the people it's targeting (Section 2).

FTC's Role: From Data to Congress

Once the FTC gets this data, they have 180 days to compile it into a public report for Congress. This report will summarize what all the different platforms reported, giving lawmakers (and the public) a better sense of the overall landscape of public service advertising online. This reporting to Congress will happen every year.

The Bigger Picture: Transparency and Potential Tweaks

While this bill focuses on transparency, it's worth noting a few things:

• Privacy Protected (For Now): The bill specifically states that it doesn't override any existing privacy or data security laws (Section 2).
• Potential for Manipulation: There's always the chance that platforms could try to stretch the definition of "public service advertisement" to include ads that aren't truly beneficial. This is something to watch as the law gets implemented.
• Targeting Concerns: The bill mentions ads needing to be "relevant and accessible to targeted audiences." While this sounds good in theory, it could raise concerns about how vulnerable populations are targeted. It is important to understand how platforms ensure accessibility without exploiting sensitive data.
• Implementation Challenges: It will be important to monitor how platforms comply with the reporting requirements, and the accuracy of the data reported.

Overall, the ADS for Mental Health Services Act is a step towards understanding how digital platforms are (or aren't) contributing to public health awareness. It's a reporting requirement, not a mandate to run more PSAs, but the data collected could influence future policy decisions.