Overview
- California’s political watchdog is reviewing Tom Steyer’s influencer spending after creators alleged some paid posts lacked clear sponsorship labels, with a few later deleted or edited.
- Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint accusing Xavier Becerra’s team of paying creators who did not disclose sponsorships or receive the required notices about disclosure rules.
- The Becerra campaign denies making any payments to creators for posts and casts the Steyer complaint as a political attack.
- Campaign filings show Steyer paid multiple creators and agencies, including a reported $100,000 to Carlos Eduardo Espina, with contracts routed through vendors such as Gusty Media, Palette Media, and PeopleFirst.
- A 2023 California law requires creators to flag paid political content and requires campaigns to alert them to that duty, and enforcement by the Fair Political Practices Commission mainly follows public complaints rather than automatic penalties.