“I hypothetically was just offered a lot of money to endorse a political party. Like, millions,” internet personality Tana Mongeau told her podcast cohost last month. “Then I was being allegedly told an alleged list of other influencers that have already hypothetically accepted money to do those hypothetical things that were hypothetically offered to me to hypothetically do.”
Influencers and internet personalities are being paid on behalf of groups backing Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump to court your vote. These content creators, whose regular programming includes posting prank and makeup looks, are instead cashing in on thousands—sometimes millions—for a single TikTok or Instagram post. Mongeau added, “It’s not one or two. It’s hundreds. It’s allegedly, like, both political parties, that’s the thing.”
During the course of the 2024 election campaign, both parties have indeed increasingly turned to podcasters, influencers, and other internet personalities to try and meet their huge, engaged followings where they’re at. “There are only 22 days more to vote, so, like, seriously, go vote,” influencer Mikey Angelo said in a recent Instagram video to his 744,000 followers. In the caption it clearly notes that Angelo was paid by a Democratic political action committee for the post—a fact he didn’t legally have to disclose.
Unlike political ads that run on TV or the nonpolitical #sponcon that makes up much of influencers’ feeds, content creators are not legally required to disclose if they’ve been paid to endorse a candidate on their page, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) determined earlier this year. While exact numbers vary based on size of following and engagement, People First, a firm hired by the Harris campaign, has paid influencers anywhere from $200 to $100,000 for political posts this year, according to the Washington Post.
With more Americans regularly getting their news from TikTok and those under 30 nearly as likely to trust information from social media as from national news outlets, this lack of transparency further muddies the plenty-muddy waters of political advertising.
Earlier this year, the progressive nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice called on the FEC to ensure that communications from paid influencers contain disclaimers so that voters know who paid for them. However, critics have concerns that new restrictions on influencers could limit their right to free speech online.
Ultimately, the FEC decided that while campaigns do need to disclose when they pay social media companies to promote an influencer’s post to a broader audience, there is no federal requirement for influencers to disclose whether or not they were paid. Next time you see your favorite influencer making a sharp 180 to political content, take what they say with a grain of salt.