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Texas’ top campaign finance watchdog on Tuesday passed a bill requiring social media players to disclose when they were paid for political ads, nearly a year after The Texas Tribune reported that influencers had been secretly paid to defend impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In a 7-0 vote, the Texas Ethics Commission gave final approval to the changes first proposed in March.
Last summer, the Tribune reported on Influenceable, a startup that was paying Gen Z influencers to create or share social media posts attacking the impeachment proceedings and the Texas Republican Party that is leading them, including House Speaker Dade Phelan. Commissioners did not directly mention the company on Tuesday but said in their previous meeting that the change was in response to “at least one company” paying social media figures for unpublished political messaging.
Influenceable has partnered with Campaign Nucleus, a digital election service founded by Brad Parscale, who served as head of former President Donald Trump’s last two presidential campaigns. The company also received an $18,000 donation from the Texas Freedom Commission in May 2023, after which influencers began claiming that Paxton was the victim of a political witch hunt, accusing Phelan of being a drunk and urging their millions of followers to support Paxton.
Defend Texas Liberty is a political action committee run by two West Texas oil billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilkes, who have donated more than $15 million to far-right causes and candidates in the state since 2021. The two are Paxton’s largest donors by far.
This story will be updated.
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