Legal experts warn that US influencers promoting "Israel" without registering under FARA could face scrutiny as questions mount over hidden sponsorships.
"Israel" is quietly funding a social media campaign in the United States, paying between 14 and 18 online influencers around $7,000 per post to promote the entity's image, according to documents reviewed by Responsible Statecraft.
The initiative, dubbed the “Esther Project,” is being managed by a new Washington-based firm, Bridges Partners, which operates out of a Capitol Hill rowhouse. The campaign is expected to run through November, Responsible Statecraft reported, citing analysis by Nick Cleveland-Stout, a research associate at the Quincy Institute’s Democratizing Foreign Policy program.
So far, however, the identities of the influencers remain unknown. According to the contract, they were supposed to begin posting in July, yet none have publicly registered as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a key US lobbying law. Legal experts warn that this omission may place them in violation of federal regulations.
Ben Freeman, director of the Quincy Institute’s Democratizing Foreign Policy program, said the legal standard in this case is unambiguous; “If you’re being paid by a foreign government to influence the American public on that government’s behalf you should register under FARA.”
Freeman added that if influencers knowingly accept money from "Israel" to create content viewed by thousands or even millions of US followers, it is “not at all clear why they would not be required to register.”
Currently, the only registered foreign agent under the Bridges Partners contract is Uri Steinberg, a consultant who co-owns the firm. Yet FARA experts stress that the influencers themselves also have an obligation to file.
“Anyone who is distributing material propaganda and other informational materials aimed at the United States audience on behalf of a foreign government agency would need to be disclosed somewhere, including potentially by filing a short form registration,” a lawyer specializing in FARA told Responsible Statecraft on condition of anonymity. (more...)
Esther Project: Paid pro-'Israel' influencers skirt FARA rules
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