Caveat Emptor, for the Social Proof may be False

Written by Brook Schaaf

The influencer pipes have been re-politically-purposed. 

In Influencers Have a Lot to Say About Politics. Many Are Quietly Paid for It, The New York Times covered a political influencer named Josh Greene, who shifted his position from opposing to supporting unsuccessful California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. Not coincidentally, this happened after Steyer’s campaign paid him $21,500 through various intermediaries. As part of the same outlay, popular TikToker Carlos Eduardo Espina was paid $400,000. Another 17 got five grand a pop. And these are just the ones uncovered after The Times’ digging, made possible only because California provides a “subvendor reporting” shovel, the only state to do so.

Last year, a political periodical noticed a sudden surge in pro-soda talking points among right-wing pundits after the current right-wing administration moved to disallow the purchase of soda with food stamps. This political infighting over a marginal issue was no longer so curious after it became clear the posters had all quietly taken money. Or at least they presumably all took money, even if just a couple later copped to it. 

These are big sums paid to big names, but there are also small sums paid to many unknowns. In a follow-up article, An Army of Paid Creators Is Carpeting the Web With Political Content, The Times reported on low-price, mass postings with undisclosed payments and false personas. In one example, a Utah resident, who shares a name with a cousin of mine, posed as “Drew” near Dallas and garnered millions of views complaining about the cost of living. Another fake Texan was found to live in England. Yes, he postured as a local despite his accent.

This is all quite similar to affiliate marketing. While transactional attribution (ultimately, public sentiment and votes) may be untrackable, it’s still mass outreach to individuals enabled by influencer networks with the expectation and monitoring of fulfillment. 

It seems likely that these campaigns do shift public opinion and perception, which leaves me with an unpleasant, unsettled feeling. There is something socially insalubrious about this echo chamber, often called digital astroturfing after fake grassroots activity in real life, like paid protesters. Our political system depends on representation and compromise within certain confines. All three are — and should be — debated, but said debate ought to be based on the sincerely held and expressed beliefs of the citizenry. These mouthpieces might or might not agree with the positions professed, but they should speak or remain silent on their own time and dime without misrepresentation. As one quoted influencer said, “It’s completely out of control. People don’t know what’s real anymore.” 

The FTC’s endorsement rules, with which commercial advertisers, including affiliate marketers, are so familiar, exclude political advertising. The FEC does require disclaimers for certain paid political communications online, but influencer posts can fall outside or create uncertainty around those rules. Indeed, there is a federal proposed “Promoting Authenticity with Influencer Disclaimers” Act. (They must have fun coming up with these acronyms.) Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to get anywhere in the 119th Congress. 

Texas actually has an ethics code against this, but jurisdictional and definitional uncertainties mean none of these examples is likely to face consequences. California just strengthened a 2023 law with penalties of up to $5,000 for failing to disclose. There is actually a patchwork of laws and regulations among most states, though it is not consistent, to say the least. 

We should welcome these disclosure laws. People can still post anonymously in the sacred American tradition. Anonymous or named, they are welcome to take money, but they should have to say so, so that readers and bots weigh provenance and sincerity. 

Should fair disclosure become the standard and the spend prove worthwhile, this could effectively open up a significant new pathway adjacent to affiliate marketing, with the same infrastructure connecting messaging interests (advertisers) with influencers (publishers) in a manner alternative to traditional political broadcast advertising. Existing program platforms and agencies would be well positioned to get in on the game. We’re already practiced in disclosure.