“I hypothetically was just offered a lot of money to endorse a political party. Like, millions,” internet personality Tana Mongeau told her podcast co-host 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—or 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 are 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 non-political #sponcon that makes up much of influencers’ feed, content creators are not legally required to disclose if they’ve been paid to endorse a candidate on their page, the Federal Election Commission 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 Federal Election Commission (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.
Войдите, чтобы добавить комментарий
Другие сообщения в этой группе
Many things remain uncertain about AI’s future impact on our lives. One that isn’t in doubt is that more and more of the world’s software will be written, at least in part, by software. A
On Monday morning, anonymous hackers played a video on screens throughout the Department of Housing and Urban Development HQ in Washington, D.C. The AI-generated video jankily portrayed President
There’s a new entrant in the scam hall of fame.
The Chengdu Snow Village—a newly opened destination in the suburban Chengdu, Sichuan province—advertised a picturesque snow landscap
A new album called “Is This What We Want?” features a stellar list of more than 1,000 musicians—and the sound of silence.
With contributions from artists including Kate Bush, An
Riddle me this: What exactly is Trello?
Despite counting myself as a heavy-duty power user of the product for well over a decade now, it’s a question I’ve long struggled to answer. Techn
The trope of the starving, broke artist has long maintained a place in the public imagination, even as it has morphed into idealized notions of “‘hustle” or “grindset.” “It’s cool to romanticize [
