Source: NYT > Business (paywall)
California's law extends FTC-style disclosure requirements to social media creators, closing a loophole where influencers could amplify political messaging without labeling paid content—a category that exploded during 2020-2024 election cycles. The $5,000-per-post penalty is steep enough to shift creator economics around political work, but enforcement depends on state regulators identifying violations across millions of posts. Creators can no longer treat political sponsorships as different from product endorsements. The move also signals growing state-level fragmentation in creator regulation, since influencers now face different compliance rules in California versus the federal baseline or other states.