Social Media Influencers have become immensely important tools for marketing. For years, advertisers have shelled out top dollar to influencers to endorse and feature their products. The reason is rooted in trust. Influencers cultivate a niche, personal, and parasocial connection with their followers, making their endorsements feel more like an authentic recommendation from a friend rather than a traditional corporate advertisement. Seeing the success of influencer marketing for consumer advertising, political actors have begun using a similar strategy: hiring influencers to endorse a candidate and their policies. However, unlike consumer influencers, who are required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to disclose any “material connection” when promoting consumer goods, those who are paid to promote or create political content are not required by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to disclose payments or perks from candidates, campaigns, or SuperPACs.

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