Snapchat is going to be huge in 2016 -- and regulators have no idea how to handle it

As he gears up for a Presidential run, former Gov Martin O’Malley (D-MD) held a conference call with donors and supporters, informing them that he would make some kind of announcement on May 30. He also had a message -- and an exclusive photo -- for his followers on Snapchat. “Stay tuned for May 30th…” he said, referring to the date when he’ll announce whether or not he’ll challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. O’Malley, who is widely expected to run, is one of a handful of politicians experimenting with Snapchat, a messaging app that has exploded in popularity over the past year. O’Malley’s team has found it useful -- along with the streaming app Periscope -- to engage a broad audience. They’ll post candid photos and videos of O’Malley’s impromptu guitar-playing on the stump, for example.

For its part, the Federal Election Commission sounds quite unsure how and if it would attempt to regulate not just Snapchat, but any app. Julia Queen, a spokeswoman for the FEC, said that the commission has “Internet regulations but they don’t specifically cover apps.” The commission has also issued advisory opinions -- which Queen said is “its official response to a question about how federal campaign finance law applies to a specific factual situation” -- on issues arising from text messages and campaigns. The potential challenge here for the FEC, Ryan said, would come in enforcement. If someone wants to break the rules via Snapchat, how would anyone know? “That Snapchats do disappear could present an interesting enforcement challenge for the FEC,” Ryan said. “You can subpoena e-mail. Tweets are public. You can examine archived records. That seemingly would not be the case with Snapchat.”