California Adds $5,000 Fines for Undisclosed Political Posts by Influencers
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1130, which adds fines and possible criminal referrals for influencers who do not disclose paid political posts. TechCrunch
Under the bill, regulators can fine creators up to $5,000 for each failure to disclose a paid political post. Regulators can also refer violators to law enforcement for potential misdemeanor prosecution. The liability attaches to the poster for each undisclosed post.
Prior California law already required influencers posting about state or local races to disclose payments. It provided no fines or criminal penalties for non-disclosure. The state's campaign watchdog could seek a court order compelling an influencer to disclose that a post was paid. AP Separately, campaigns were required to inform creators that a disclaimer was required if they were being paid to post. Daily News
AB 1130 was sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman. The California Senate passed the measure in August before it reached Newsom's desk. Texas also requires disclosure for paid political content.
The issue gained visibility after Tom Steyer paid dozens of influencers to post about his California gubernatorial campaign, with many posts initially lacking disclosure of the payments. Newsom signed AB 1130 as part of a broader package of bills his office said will protect against potential election interference from President Donald Trump. TechCrunch
The broader context here is the gap between campaign rules built for broadcast and print buys and a media environment where paid persuasion looks like a normal post. Disclosure for a television spot sits with the buyer and the station. Disclosure for creator content is spread across dozens or hundreds of accounts, each controlling caption text, video overlay, hashtags and platform-provided branded content tags, the built-in paid-partnership labels. A fine tied to each post shifts compliance work to the creator and the campaign operator managing them.
In my view, the operational change is about tracking and proof. Campaigns already have to tell creators a disclaimer is required. Now creators have independent incentive to keep records of briefs, payment terms and posting instructions. For teams running influencer programs, that likely means standardized disclosure language, pre-publication review and archived screenshots or API exports, the automated records pulled from a platform, because a $5,000 per-post penalty makes informal direct-message deals expensive to defend.
One limitation is worth keeping in mind, enforcement will still depend on detection. Undisclosed payments are hard to distinguish at scale from genuine endorsement, and referral for misdemeanor prosecution sets a high bar for intent and evidence. The law does not solve attribution on its own. What it does is give regulators a tool beyond a court order to compel a disclaimer after the post has already circulated. Over the long arc, clearer labeling should help voters sort paid advocacy from personal opinion without shutting down a format that has lowered the cost of political speech.
