Influencer files complaint against Steyer's campaign, alleging infringement
WASHINGTON – A political activist filed a lawsuit against Tom Steyer's campaign for governor, saying the committee failed to notify him of disclosure requirements, as required by law, when he was paid to meet with Steyer in March and later disclosed on social media at the meeting.
In addition, he said Steyer's campaign falsely accused him of posting paid content in support of Steyer's Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra, and failed to disclose in a complaint filed by the billionaire's campaign this week.
Maggie Reed, who regularly posts sharp political takes on nearly half a million followers on Instagram and TiKTok under the username mermaidmamamamaggie, said she was actually paid by Steyer's campaign and signed a non-disclosure agreement.
He posted, and later deleted, a video of his meeting with Steyer in March.
“In plain words: The Committee paid for political content, edited it to look like the general opinion of the creator, and used a non-disclosure agreement to prevent the public from learning the truth,” said the complaint, filed Thursday with California's Fair Political Practices Commission.
Steyer's campaign disclosed in the campaign rain that it paid an agency representing Reed $5,000 for digital advertising, but did not indicate whether the payment was connected to Reed's meeting with Steyer or his content production.
The Steyer campaign said that while it paid to meet with Reed, it left the decision to create content entirely up to him.
Since then, Reed has produced several videos expressing support for Becerra, a former California congressman and US Secretary of Health and Human Services, but said he was not paid to produce those videos and showed his genuine support for Becerra's campaign.
Becerra has been the top Democrat in recent polls in the race, maintaining a narrow margin over Steyer and holding on to one of the top two spots in the June 2 primary that would send him to the general election in November.
Reed's appeal is the latest in a back-and-forth volley involving the use of paid influencers in the chiefs race.
Two activists who support Becerra — but were not paid by his campaign — filed a complaint last week alleging that a number of activists created paid content to support Steyer, but failed to disclose it on their posts.
Steyer's campaign then filed a lawsuit earlier this week where he was suing Reed and another activist named Jay Gonzalez, who is now a paid employee of Becerra's campaign. The complaint alleges that Gonzalez made several pro-Becerra posts after joining the campaign and then amended them to include a sponsored disclosure.
Becerra's campaign has maintained that it does not pay influencers to produce content on its behalf.
Steyer's complaint included screenshots of an email sent to Reed's talent agency by the gubernatorial campaign exploring his interest in producing paid content.
While the screenshots produced in Steyer's complaint did not reveal who sent the probe, Reed said in his filing that the request came from the campaign staff of former Los Angeles Mayor and California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa.
Disclosure of paid political content by social media creators is required in California due to a law passed in 2023.
Influencers themselves are required to disclose that the posts they created were sponsored, but campaigns are required to inform them of this requirement.
Violations do not trigger civil, criminal or administrative penalties, but the FPPC reserves the right to take violators to court and ask a judge to enforce compliance.
The agreement Reed signed with Steyer's campaign, which was attached to his complaint, indicated that he needs to follow all state, federal and local laws, but did not specifically mention his requirement to disclose that the content he produces is sponsored.
The agreement specified that Steyer's campaign may need to disclose the payment.
