The bill would allow the Fair Political Practices Commission to fine content creators up to US$5,000
California State Assembly member Marc Berman has drafted a bill that will impose penalties on content creators and political committees for creators who do not disclose if they were paid to produce political content, reported The Associated Press.
The bill authorizes California’s Fair Political Practices Commission to penalize creators and committees without going through the court process required by the existing state legislation that mandates disclosure. Those who violate the proposed bill could be fined up to US$5,000 for each breach, the commission said.
Berman’s drafting of the bill follows recent incidents wherein content creators released content that aimed to influence how followers voted without advising that they had been compensated for making said content. While political campaigns have often collaborated with celebrities and high-profile influencers, some campaigns are now working with lesser-known influencers to reach specific groups; this has led to discussions on whether disclosure rules around political advertisements should extend to content creators.
Under California’s existing disclosure law, which was passed in 2023, the state’s campaign watchdog can seek court orders requiring content creators to disclose whether or not they were compensated for content that promotes political campaigns. However, this process is time-consuming.
California senator Adam Schiff introduced federal legislation last month that has yet to receive a vote. According to AP News, groups are calling for the Federal Election Commission to pass a rule of its own.
Berman said in a statement published by AP News that voters “should have a right to know whether or not campaigns are paying for the messaging that they’re seeing.” Recently, Democrat Tom Steyer had paid influencers to promote his campaign to be California governor; while many of the influencers clearly indicated that they had been compensated to create the content, a number who supposedly did not are currently being investigated by California’s finance watchdog.
In 2023, the Texas Tribune reported that an influencer marketing agency paid content creators to defend Texas attorney general Ken Paxton following his impeachment for supposed bribery and misconduct. However, the creators in question did not clearly indicate that they had been compensated to do so.
California and Texas are the only two US states to pass policies mandating content creators to disclose such information; in 2024, the latter’s campaign watchdog passed a requirement for content creators to add disclaimers to content intended as political advertisements. According to AP News, the New York legislature is pondering a similar rule.
However, Utah and Georgia failed to get disclosure bills passed.
