Commentary

House Bill Would Require Disclaimers on Influencer Content Funded by Political Committees

Published on June 4, 2026

Representative Mark Takano (CA-39) introduced the “Promoting Authenticity with Influencer Disclaimers Act” (PAID) on June 2, which would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require any person paid by a political committee to include a disclosure in their online content.

Under the bill, political committees must notify creators of the disclaimer requirement at the time of payment. The disclosure must appear in a clear and conspicuous manner in audiovisual, text, and graphic content, and be spoken audibly in audio-only formats. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) would need to issue implementing regulations by January 1, 2027, when the law would take effect.

A Growing Regulatory Gap

The FEC has attempted to establish transparency standards for creator-campaign relationships since 2013, but has been unable to enforce disclosure requirements without a clear statutory mandate. Texas moved ahead of the federal government in June 2024, when the Texas Ethics Commission adopted a rule requiring influencers to disclose payments exceeding $100 for political content, making it the first state to implement such a requirement.

At the federal level, campaigns and political action committees have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for influencer content in recent years, according to reporting cited by Takano’s office.

A 2024 study by global creator agency Billion Dollar Boy found that 28% of U.S. content creators had been approached to produce political content ahead of the 2024 presidential election, and 43% of those not contacted expressed interest in future political partnerships.

Audience Scale

A Pew Research Center study examining 500 news creators and more than 100,000 posts found that 21% of Americans regularly get news from social media creators, with that figure rising to 37% among adults aged 18 to 29.

“Users deserve to know if a creator has been compensated by a campaign to post for them,” Takano said. “Current campaign disclosure laws have not kept up with this new Creator Economy, and voters deserve to know who is financing their feeds before heading to the polling booths.”