The Chicago Teachers Union, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other political candidates and committees across the country are paying prominent social media influencers to post supportive content, but those campaigns rarely directly disclose the contributions.
A Johnson campaign official told NBC Chicago they have been in communication with “around 100” influencers but are paying only four. That said, Illinois campaign disclosure law does not directly mandate that influencers disclose whether or not they’re getting paid for political content.
This week, 47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin proposed new city rules on disclosure — including requiring paid political influencers to include in their post who they’re getting the money from.
“Our ordinance would place the burden on both the committee and the influencer, and impose fines on both for violations,” said Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Reform for Illinois, a group that is pushing for the ordinance.
Other states and localities have enacted tougher regulations already. California state law requires disclosure from paid social media influencers and enacts fines for non-compliance.
“You have to say here in California, this post was paid for by, you know, Steyer for Governor with the committee ID, so it’s very specific,” says Kaitlyn Hennessey, a California political influencer who says she helped advocate for California’s rules.
The discussion around regulating influencers in Illinois comes after billionaire Chicago democratic donor Michael Sacks issued a cease and desist letter to Good Influence, a company that represents popular social media influencers.
Sacks alleges that influencers represented by that company spread potentially “false and defamatory” information, including claiming that Sacks helped close Chicago Public Schools. Sacks was a large contributor to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who oversaw the closure of 50 public schools amid a budget crisis in 2013. He has been a major donor to a political PAC called Common Ground Collective, which has been opposing CTU-backed candidates.
A spokesperson for Good Influence sent a statement to NBC 5 that said “Good Influence responded to the cease and desist letter and considers this matter closed. To the extent the letter suggested that Good Influence may be liable for purported false statement about Mr. Sacks in unidentified social media posts, Good Influence expressly denies that assertion.”
A CTU Spokesperson did not confirm or deny they had contracted with influencers through Good Influence to spread messages supportive of the union’s endorsed candidates for school board, and messages against Sacks. CTU Political Coordinator Crystal Gardner said “it’s sad to see men with so much power be crybabies,” referring to Sacks.
NBC Chicago also obtained a copy of a memo purportedly distributed by Good Influence, recommending talking points to influencers and urging them to support CTU-backed candidate Hilario Dominguez for President of the Chicago Board of Education.
The memo suggested lines like “the public school champions are up against a political machine bankrolled by dark money group sand billionaires like Michael Sacks.”
Some political influencers have voluntarily disclosed that their content has been paid for.
Rebecca Lehman runs an Instagram account called Becky in Chicago. She posted videos of her interview with Mayor Johnson, asking, among other things, what the mayor’s proudest accomplishment was. At the bottom of Lehman’s post, she writes “This is a paid partnership with Brandon Johnson for Chicago.”
A spokesperson for Common Ground Collective says the group does not pay social media influencers for content. NBC Chicago also reached out to Governor Pritzker’s campaign. A spokesperson says Pritzker for Governor also does not pay political influencers for social media content.