California has introduced new penalties for social media influencers who are paid to publish political content without disclosing that they received payment. 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1130 on September 19 as part of a wider package of election related legislation.

The new law strengthens an existing requirement that paid political content must include an appropriate disclosure. 

Under the legislation, regulators can impose administrative, civil or criminal penalties when a person paid by a campaign committee fails to include the required disclosure on political content supporting or opposing a candidate or measure. 

The law allows regulators to impose fines of up to $5,000 for each violation and permits cases to be referred to law enforcement for potential misdemeanor proceedings. 

The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman, who said the measure was intended to increase transparency around campaign spending on social media influencers.

Berman’s office said California already required paid influencers to disclose their relationship with campaigns, but the previous rules provided limited liability when the disclosure was missing. AB 1130 also requires campaigns to identify spending on paid social media posts in their campaign expenditure filings. 

The legislation follows increased scrutiny of paid political influencer campaigns during California’s 2026 election cycle.

Reporting cited by TechCrunch said billionaire candidate Tom Steyer paid dozens of influencers to promote his campaign, with some posts initially lacking disclosure. 

The new law forms part of a broader package signed by Newsom that addresses election advertising, campaign communications and other election related issues. 

Source: TechCrunch