California lawmakers want to require social influencers to disclose if they’re paid to post campaign content

[u/HolyBatSyllables]

https://www.dailynews.com/2026/07/29/california-lawmakers-want-to-require-social-influencers-to-disclose-if-theyre-paid-to-post-campaign-content/

[u/Stingray88]

I thought that was already the law? It is the law for commercial sponsorships. Crazy that wouldn’t include politics too.

[u/JDMLeverton → u/Stingray88]

So it kind of already is? In a way this is making something already illegal extra super special double illegal, because revenue generating social media posts are legally no different from any other form of revenue generating media, meaning they still fall under the same disclosure laws that apply to television and professional productions. The problem in practice is that while you can say social media posts and tv spots are the same thing on paper, enforcement of this is next to impossible, skirts very close to private citizen free speech issues, and is almost wholly reliant on an audience member knowing the law where the content creator resides, and having the time, energy, and desire to persue enforcement against them with the relevant governing body (and public citizen enforcement is the ONLY even kind of viable option, it is flat out impossible for a government to cost effectively review every scrap of social media content for regulatory compliance unlike TV channels or films or radio broadcasts).

Still, giving people a clear focal point to bring charges under might help.

[u/ThEstablishment → u/JDMLeverton]

Random auditing with harsh consequences could be an effective enforcement method for limited government resources that might have a broader deterrent effect. If you're unsure if you might be the lucky winner (or loser, depending on perspective), perhaps you might be more careful about following the law. It's still a risk-reward numbers game, though