Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is hiring hundreds of workers in California, paying them $2,500 a month, to promote him to their friends with text messages and on their social media feeds, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The move comes ahead of California’s March 3 primary, but could ultimately be launched nationwide, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources and documents it had reviewed.
The scheme is being aided by a mobile app called Outvote, which is funded by a Democratic technology and investment organization known as Higher Ground Labs, the Journal reported.
The multimillion-dollar-a-month effort is part of Bloomberg’s campaign strategy to employ more than 500 “deputy digital organizers” to work 20 to 30 hours a week for $2,500 a month, the documents show, according to the Journal.
President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign also includes staff dedicated to digital media but doesn’t compensate people to post on their personal social media accounts, the Journal reported.
“We are meeting voters everywhere on any platform that they consume their news,” a Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman told the Journal. “One of the most effective ways of reaching voters is by activating their friends and network.”
Social-media posts by some people being paid by the campaign found they aren’t labeled as sponsored content — and that could be troublesome.
According to the Journal, the Federal Trade Commission has previously warned that merely tagging a brand or business on social media is a form of endorsement that falls under its purview — and should be disclosed if an audience would see the push differently knowing an influencer got paid for it.
It remains unclear how Facebook will classify the Bloomberg campaign's form of voter outreach, Newsweek reported.
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