By MarketWatch
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Maryland lawmakers approved new regulations Tuesday that require candidates to add an "authority line" to their social media landing pages.
Starting in two weeks, politicians must add a declaration of approval that includes their campaign treasurer on official pages found on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. The new legislation also requires an authority line, or at the very least a link to an official campaign site, in advertising appearing in social media.
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"This is very new," Jared DeMarinis, a director with the State Board of Elections, told The Baltimore Sun. "We're taking the rules as they are today and applying them to Internet."
Gubernatorial candidates, incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., have already included authority lines on their Twitter pages.
The Maryland General Assembly's joint committee on administrative, executive, and legislative review voted 11-to-1 to approve the regulations, with many committee members posting updates on their Facebook and Twitter accounts during the hearing.
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Jon Friedman
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