California will be able to punish online creators who fail to disclose paid political content, empowering regulators to impose fines of up to $5,000 per violation and to refer cases to law enforcement for possible misdemeanor charges. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1130 into law as part of a package his office said is aimed at protecting elections from potential interference tied to President Donald Trump.
The new statute closes a gap in the previous rules that required influencers to disclose paid posts about state and local races but offered no penalties when disclosures were missing. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman, said he moved the measure after finding "a bit of ambiguity about the [existing] law and how it’s enforced."
News reports noted that billionaire Tom Steyer paid dozens of influencers to promote his run for California governor earlier this year, and many of those posts were not initially labeled as paid content. That example helped shape the political case for clearer enforcement tools, lawmakers and advocates argued.
AB 1130 places new compliance and legal risk directly on individuals who accept payment to publish political messages online. Regulators now have explicit authority to assess monetary penalties per undisclosed post, and to turn matters over to prosecutors when they believe a law has been broken. Texas already requires disclosure for paid political content, and lawmakers in other states are considering similar rules, indicating a patchwork of regulation may be forming around paid online political speech.
The law creates an enforcement mechanism that could change how campaigns and political donors use paid influencer posts within California’s state and local contests. How frequently regulators will levy fines or seek criminal charges, and how courts will treat referrals under the new law, will be determined by the agencies and prosecutors who apply AB 1130 in the coming election cycles.
