Politically Influenced: Politicians shouldn’t discreetly pay influencers to “post support” for them on social media

“Hey, I love your ‘get ready with me’ videos! How about a little cash in exchange for some political support?”

This is essentially the world we’re living in where politicians can slide into influencers’ DMs, like just another fan looking for a shoutout, because I guess democracy needs an influencer market strategy now.

The campaigning strategy of using social media influencers to shape public opinion and sway voters takes advantage of social media users and can lead to inauthentic content, misinformation and foreign propaganda.

Influencer marketing has been around since the dawn of social media, but it’s now starting to enter politics. Most recently, the Democratic National Convention invited 200 social media influencers to attend and gave them exclusive access to talk to Democratic politicians, according to The New York Times. 

Social media accounts once filled with groups of dancing teens or insane food reviews are now home to painfully staged political messages like talking about how “demure” the DNC is. 

Typically, influencers have to disclose when they’re paid for any type of product-promoting content due to guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission. But, the Federal Election Commission, which oversees campaign finance law, currently doesn’t have clear disclosure rules for influencers, according to WCNC, an NBC affiliate.

It seems that Republicans and Democrats are taking advantage of this by using marketing companies as middlemen to pay individual influencers. The Harris campaign has paid $1.9 million to Village Marketing Agency, a major firm for booking social media influencers. The Trump campaign has also paid Legendary Campaigns over $2.3 million to focus on influencer marketing since 2020, according to the FEC.

It’s clear that money is being pumped into social media advertising using these companies but after the companies receive the money they do not have to disclose which influencers they give it to.

By enlisting influencers to deliver their messages, platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become battlegrounds for political narratives and agendas, with influencers creating trendy content to attract followers while pushing political agendas.

Without knowing which influencers are getting paid for their political content, it’s impossible for viewers to differentiate between creators who are genuinely passionate about political issues and those who just want some extra cash. 

Either way, influencers are also the last people we want handling politics— it’s simply not in their job description. If it was, they would’ve become reporters giving the latest factual update on politics rather than making possibly paid-off political content for their followers.

But, since influencers are often seen as relatable peers rather than distant celebrities or politicians, their opinions are more impactful on their followers, whether it’s about a new skincare product or who should be president. Either way, social media users deserve the same transparency in both situations.

Anything else creates a deceptive narrative that prioritizes profit over the truth. Complex issues are reduced to mere soundbites — quick clips from an interview or video that can lack appropriate context — making it easier for misinformation to spread and ultimately undermining informed decision-making among voters. 

Letting them campaign for politicians leaves them, and consequently their following, vulnerable to propaganda that politicians and professional reporters would be able to recognize. 

Just last month the Department of Justice filed an indictment that alleges that a media company linked to conservative influencers was secretly funded by Russian state media to churn out videos that increased “U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to Russian interests,” according to AP News. 

As influencer campaigning continues to increase, cases similar to this will inevitably follow, with different people in power using influencers as pawns in their games of political chess at the expense of their followers’ news content. It’s a whole new threat to national politics in itself.

There’s a reason why reporters have to be hired and politicians must be elected, but influencers can simply be followed with the click of a button. Politics carry a heavy weight and influencing people to buy a product comes with less responsibility than influencing action on national issues.

If politicians want to reach out to voters through social media, they should rely on their own account platforms. Social media platforms should work together to ensure that clear rules are in place regarding disclosure of payments. 

By demanding transparency for paid promotions, social media users are better informed and empowered to make choices based on truth rather than propaganda.