Political Influencers Caught in Sting

News Guard: “In October 2026, a consulting firm called R&H Strategies emailed 60 online political influencers with varying numbers of followers offering up to $2,000 to post a one-minute TikTok video supporting the positions of a congressional candidate. There was one condition: The influencers could not tell their viewers that they had been paid to create the video.”

“Twenty-one influencers replied that they were interested in the deal, voicing no objections to the condition. Five declined the offer…”

“In fact, R&H Strategies is not a real firm. NewsGuard created it to test how readily political influencers would pass off paid campaign messaging as their own work.”