The Steyer campaign pays influencers. Their posts don’t always make that clear
WASHINGTON— In recent weeks, several social media influencers touting billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer’s California gubernatorial campaign have popped up in online posts.
Some complain about gas prices. Others cite environmental concerns. One points to his newfound sobriety as proof that people can change; This is a nod to Steyer’s self-proclaimed transformation from hedge fund giant to scourge of big corporations.
“I didn’t expect the most progressive gubernatorial candidate to be a billionaire, but look at the policies, guys,” one creator said on TikTok username Jaz R. “Listen to me. I know Tom Steyer is a billionaire, but he’s also pro-the people.”
The posts include direct-to-camera appeals where personal details are intertwined with messages of support for Steyer. An influencer comes along for the ride as on-screen text touts Steyer’s policies. Some try, if occasionally clumsily, to convey originality; One influencer mispronounces Steyer’s last name.
They do not include a disclosure that the creators were paid by the Steyer campaign to produce the videos, according to a complaint filed this week with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission and a Times review of the posts.
The complaint alleges that the Steyer campaign failed to notify the influencers it hired of their obligation to notify their audiences when their posts were endorsed by the campaign.
California Passed a law in 2023 Requiring influencers to disclose whether they have been paid to create promotional content or voting measures for or against a candidate is one of the few jurisdictions in the country with such a requirement. There is no such requirement at the federal level.
“Anytime there is a new technology, you have to create legislation that requires it to be disclosed,” said State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), who sponsored the bill.
Violating the law does not carry criminal, civil or administrative penalties, but the FPPC can take influencers who break the law to court and ask a judge to force them to comply.
The complaint was filed by two California women (political influencers) who said they noticed a number of new accounts that began posting similar-sounding videos promoting Steyer earlier this month.
“They spoke exactly the same language, had the same talking points,” said Beatrice Gomberg, who worked with Kaitlyn Hennessy on her digital sleuthing efforts.
The FPPC did not comment on the complaint.
Steyer’s campaign appears to rely more on paid influencers than any other gubernatorial candidate. latest campaign financing Applications.
That spending represents only a small portion of Steyer’s massive campaign war chest of nearly $180 million of his own money. But the complaint underscores that political candidates are increasingly seeking the authenticity that social media influencers offer.
Steyer campaign spokesman Kevin Liao said the campaign followed the rules properly when hiring influencers and that the campaign was “confident” that Gomberg and Hennessy’s complaint was “unfounded.”
“Creators make their living by producing content. The campaign believes in rewarding people for their time and effort and pays creators to produce content,” Liao said in a statement. “Payments for creator content are disclosed in campaign finance reports, and we notify creators we work directly with of disclosure requirements.”
Although many of the new Steyer influencers have small numbers of followers, Steyer’s campaign disclosed in its latest campaign finance report that it has paid thousands of dollars to multiple social media influencers with large audiences. Sacramento Bee reported.
Many of the videos produced by these popular social media figures did not indicate that they were paid by the campaign, according to the complaint and The Times’ review of the content.
But even accounts with small numbers of followers can have a big impact if they produce a steady stream of content supporting Steyer, said Mike Madrid, California’s senior political strategist.
“What they’re trying to do is confuse the algorithm,” he said. “It seems to have a larger audience than it actually does. It brings the astroturf concept into the digital age.”
Gomberg and Hennessy said they became friends after meeting in April at a campaign event for Xavier Becerra, Steyer’s primary Democratic rival in the race who holds a narrow advantage over Steyer in several recent political polls.
The duo has been prolifically promoting Becerra’s campaign on social media ever since, but insist they were not paid for their efforts.
They said they discovered that many of the new pro-Steyer accounts were run by influencers (mostly women) who had previously created different social media accounts to market other products.
According to the complaint and a Times review of the public website, one of the pro-Steyer influencers had an online portfolio that listed numerous clients, including a Steyer campaign and a gum designed to increase arousal.
The duo said they came across an ad placed by a vendor for the campaign on a platform creators use to find work. The ad stated that creators will be paid $10 for each post and bonuses will be given for posts that reach large audiences.
The seller who posted the ad did not respond to a request for comment.
There is advertising since updated Saying it pays $1000 a month and creators have to disclose that this is paid content.
As Gomberg and Hennessy dug deeper, they determined that some of the influencers supporting the gubernatorial candidate weren’t even based in California.
A TikTok account using this manage jess.votesfor example, it appears to be linked to a woman registered to vote in Florida. Other accounts were linked to women who stated they lived elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Michigan.
Several influencers who ostensibly create paid content and promote Steyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Times.
The farce over paid social media content is just the latest example of the growing political influence of online creators.
Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign and congressional career ended after multiple women accused him of sexual assault. An influential couple had publicly expressed their concerns about Swalwell’s behavior and helped connect victims with journalists who produced highly detailed reports about the allegations.
California law requires influencers to disclose in the audio or text of a political post who sponsored it and who paid for it.
The onus is on creators to make the disclosure, but campaigns need to tell them they need to do so. Despite the passage of the law, the issue has been largely overlooked until now.
“I have dozens of candidates and campaigns, and I’ve never heard this issue come up,” said a campaign finance attorney who asked to remain anonymous because they represent numerous candidates with active campaigns.
Gomberg and Hennessy said they were driven to draw attention to potential violations of disclosure requirements out of concern about the corrosive impact such paid content could have if left unchecked.
“There are people who trust these creators,” Hennessy said. “You have a responsibility to your audience.”
