The “Cutler Files” website leads with the question, “Who is Eliot Cutler?” But a better question is “What is the Cutler Files?”

Cutler is the Cape Elizabeth lawyer who is running as an independent candidate for governor, but the “Cutler Files” is harder to define.

It is a website that uses research, pointed prose and computer graphics to attack Cutler. The authors, who don’t identify themselves, claim that what they are doing is anonymous free speech, a cherished tradition in this country since before the founding of the republic.

Cutler’s campaign sees it another way, however. They view the website as an attempt to influence the outcome of an election, and so should fall under campaign finance regulations.

 

That means the authors would have to register with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections, identify themselves and say where their money came from.

This is not an easy call, but we think on this matter Cutler is right. A website, like a television commercial, is a tool of a campaign and voters should know who is trying to influence them.

What makes the “Cutler Files” a complicated matter is that it looks like a news product and has many of the characteristics of a news site.

For one thing, it relies on reporting and promises readers information about Cutler that they should know before the election. News organizations often rely on anonymous sources to get information that would not otherwise be revealed, and they should not be forced to identify them.

But the “Cutler Files” is not strictly a news site. It is filled with political and personal attacks, putting Cutler in the worst light possible.

Criticism of politicians is the lifeblood of politics and political speech should not be suppressed. But Maine has rules for the conduct of its elections, and although the rules are currently under challenge in the federal courts, they are still in effect. Under state law, campaign expenditures have to be recorded and the names of donors disclosed.

The Internet is a mass communications medium, and people who go on-line to learn more about Eliot Cutler are likely to run into the “Cutler Files.” A website devoted to discouraging people from voting for a specific candidate has the same effect as a negative television ad, and should be governed by the same rules.

So, the ethics commission should make the website’s authors identify themselves and reveal where they get their money.