California Could Fine Influencers Over Political Ad Disclosure, and New York May Be Next
A new bill in Sacramento would let regulators fine social media creators up to $5,000 for hiding paid political posts, and lawmakers in Albany are watching closely
California may soon punish social media influencers who take campaign money and stay quiet about it, and the fight over political ad disclosure is already spilling into New York, where state lawmakers are considering a similar rule that could reach creators right here in the Mohawk Valley. A bill from Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman would let California’s Fair Political Practices Commission fine content creators and political committees up to $5,000 for every paid political post that skips the required disclaimer. The measure is aimed at closing a loophole that has let campaigns quietly pay influencers, some with fewer than 100,000 followers, to shape how millions of people think about candidates and issues.
For readers in Utica, Rome, and New Hartford, this might sound like a California problem. It is not. Political campaigns increasingly treat local influencers the same way they treat local newspapers and television stations, as a direct line into a community’s living room. If New York follows California and Texas in requiring paid posts to be flagged, creators across Oneida and Herkimer counties could find themselves subject to the same rules already shaking up social media in Sacramento.
How the California Disclosure Fight Started
California passed a law in 2023 requiring influencers to disclose when a political campaign pays them to post. The idea was simple. Voters deserve to know when they are watching an advertisement rather than a friend’s honest opinion. The problem was enforcement. The state’s campaign finance watchdog could only seek a court order to force disclosure, a process that can drag on for months while an election, and sometimes the influence of a single viral post, has already come and gone.
That gap is what pushed Assemblymember Berman to write his new bill. It would hand the Fair Political Practices Commission direct authority to issue fines, skipping the courtroom delay entirely. Berman explained his reasoning plainly.
“Voters should have a right to know whether or not campaigns are paying for the messaging that they’re seeing,” Berman said.
The stakes became clear during California’s recent primary for governor. Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer spent more than $215 million of his own money on the race and also paid content creators to spread his message. Los Angeles influencer Shaka Smith, who has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram, opened one paid video with a disclaimer before praising Steyer’s positions on health care, housing, and climate policy.
“This is an ad, and honestly, I wish more political content said that first,” Smith told his audience.
Smith later said he believed the disclosed posts still moved his followers. “They kind of trust my voice,” he said. “They knew that if I’m saying it, it’s at least something they should look into.” Not every creator working with the Steyer campaign was as forthcoming. California’s campaign finance watchdog is now investigating several other instances in which creators allegedly took payment without telling their followers.
Why Campaigns Are Turning to Small Creators
For years, political campaigns leaned on celebrities and mega-influencers to reach voters. That strategy has shifted. Campaigns are now recruiting smaller, niche creators, sometimes with audiences under 100,000, because those creators often have tighter, more trusting relationships with specific communities. A single mom who posts about grocery budgets or a local coach who talks sports on TikTok can move opinion in ways a national celebrity cannot.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis, who worked on Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, said any serious candidate now has to compete for these voices.
“If you’re running for president and you are not currently trying to court some of these people or lining up your own people to act as surrogates for you, you’re already behind,” Nellis said.
This is not new to national politics. In 2022, the Senate campaign of John Fetterman paid reality television personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi to mock his Republican opponent in a video. In 2023, an influencer marketing firm with conservative ties paid content creators to defend Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after his impeachment on bribery and misconduct allegations, according to reporting by the Texas Tribune. Neither arrangement was clearly disclosed to viewers at the time.
Where New York and Other States Stand on Political Ad Disclosure
California and Texas are currently the only two states with disclosure requirements for paid political social media posts. Texas’s campaign watchdog adopted its rule in 2024. Disclosure bills have failed in recent years in Utah and Georgia, showing that not every state legislature is convinced the rules are worth the political fight.
New York is different. State lawmakers in Albany are actively weighing a political ad disclosure requirement similar to California’s law. If it passes, the rule would apply statewide, covering influencers and small creators from Buffalo to the Mohawk Valley. That matters for Utica, Rome, and New Hartford residents who follow local commentators, community organizers, or regional personalities on social media. A creator in Oneida County who takes payment from a county legislature candidate or a statewide campaign could soon face the same disclosure duty now under debate in California.
There is currently no federal disclosure requirement at all. California Sen. Adam Schiff introduced a bill last month to create national standards, but it has not yet received a vote in Congress. Outside advocacy groups are also pressing the Federal Election Commission to write its own disclosure rule rather than waiting on Congress.
Saurav Ghosh, a lawyer with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said state action often paves the way for federal reform.
“Transparency is one of the most important pillars of our election system,” Ghosh said.
Creators Push Back on the Cost of Compliance
Not every influencer supports adding fines to the disclosure law. Dustin Torreverde, a Southern California content creator who has not been paid for political posts, worries the penalties would hit working creators the hardest.
“A lot of us are very small creators,” Torreverde said. “So if we were to get penalized and we have to get lawyers, stuff like that, it’s going to be very difficult for us.”
Other creators see it differently. Adina Flores, a Northern California libertarian content creator who says she votes across party lines, generally supports penalties for creators who take political money without telling their audience. She said undisclosed payments can push creators to promote a candidate without doing real research first.
Both perspectives matter as New York and other states weigh similar rules. Fines can protect voters from hidden influence campaigns, but they can also create legal and financial risk for creators who are simply trying to build a small business online. Lawmakers in Albany will likely face the same balancing act that Sacramento is working through now.
What This Means for the Mohawk Valley
Ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race, campaigns at every level, from county legislature seats to statewide office, are expected to lean harder on social media creators to reach voters directly. That includes candidates courting audiences in Utica, Rome, and New Hartford through local Instagram accounts, TikTok pages, and community Facebook groups. Whether or not New York adopts a political ad disclosure law like California’s, voters in the Mohawk Valley should ask a simple question before trusting a political post from an online personality: was this creator paid, and did they say so?
Transparency in political advertising does not stop at the state line. As disclosure rules spread from California and Texas toward New York, Mohawk Valley residents have a direct stake in how these laws are written and enforced. Voters who want a say in how their state handles paid political speech online can start by registering to vote and staying engaged with state legislative sessions in Albany. Residents can register or check their voter registration status at vote.gov or through the New York State Board of Elections.
David LaGuerre, Utica Phoenix
