Periscope and Facebook Live streams were a major newsmaking tool during a sit-in in June, but the Republican House leadership is now proposing rules that would ban it.
US Representatives could face a $500 fine for broadcasting audio or video via social media or any other means from the chamber floor under the proposed decorum rules, Bloomberg reported. The fine, which would be garnished from lawmakers’ paychecks, would jump to $2,500 for a second offense.
Republican leadership under House Speaker Paul Ryan proposed the new rules as a response to a sit-in organized by Democrats in June to force a vote on gun control legislation. The sit-in began shortly after the House entered a recess on June 22 and official cameras were turned off. C-SPAN broadcast Periscope and Facebook Live streams from Reps. Beto O’Rourke and Scott Peters, among others, during the 25-hour sit-in.
Rep. O’Rourke, of Texas, had more than 2,000 viewers on his Facebook Live stream. Rep. Peters, of California, recorded a series of Periscope videos throughout the day, including one that was approximately 45 minutes long.
House decorum rules already prevent live video feeds from devices other than the official cameras, and Ryan’s crackdown would make it easier to punish offenders.
“These changes will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in the House of Representatives so lawmakers can do the people’s work,” AshLee Strong, a spokesman for Ryan, said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The proposal is set for a vote on Jan. 3, once the new Congress takes office.
