Carr explains FTC and campaign finance loopholes his bills would close
Carr cites a New York Times AI analysis finding most influencer videos about the administration were positive, notes FTC disclosure rules and campaign finance requirements, and says his legislation would require disclosure of who collaborates with the mayor's office, the subject matter, and payments.
According to the New York Times, an artificial intelligence analysis of more than a dozen Instagram influencers who work with the mayor's team found that of 178 videos related to the administration, the overwhelming majority were positive.
The Federal Trade Commission has laws to prevent deceptive advertisement, including new rules for disclosure for social media influencers.
There are also campaign finance rules that require disclosure of payments.
To anyone who is working on behalf of a candidate and their committees.
But there is a big loophole when it comes to this type of relationship between influencers and government entities.
The legislation we are introducing today aims to close that loophole by requiring the disclosure of these relationships.
It will let us know who is collaborating with the mayor's office and the city agencies, the subject matter of these messages, and whether they are being paid for by the government for such messaging, and if so, how much.
These are basic guardrails that will protect against misrepresentation and give the public the full picture about the message they are receiving.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you very much.
Councilmember Wong, do you want to make a statement?
Okay.
All right.
So now then we're going to hear from the public advocate.