California Approves $5,000 Fines for Influencers Hiding Paid Political Ads

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation authorizing strict financial penalties for social media influencers who fail to properly disclose paid political content. Regulators are now empowered to impose fines of up to $5,000 for each individual violation, or refer the cases to law enforcement as potential misdemeanors. The state previously required disclosures for state and local campaigns since 2023, but lacked an enforcement mechanism to fine or prosecute creators who ignored the rules. The legislation was introduced after media reports revealed billionaire Tom Steyer paid dozens of creators across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit to post favorably during the spring gubernatorial primary without initial written disclosures. Texas already mandates similar online political disclosure rules, while lawmakers in New York and the US Congress are actively considering matching regulations. "I was hearing from people in the campaign world that there’s this new strategy of paying political influencers to post content and that some were good about disclosure and others were a bit fast and loose." — Marc Berman