Section 84504.3.
Cal. Government Code - GOV § 84504.3.
in effect(a)
This section applies to an electronic media advertisement if either of the following is true:
(1)
The advertisement is paid for by a committee other than a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate.
(2)
The advertisement is paid for by a political party committee or a candidate controlled committee established for an elective office of the controlling candidate, and is either of the following:
(A)
Paid for by an independent expenditure.
(B)
An advertisement supporting or opposing a
ballot measure.
(b)
An electronic media advertisement that is a graphic, image, animated graphic, or animated image that the online platform hosting the advertisement allows to link to an internet website paid for by a committee shall comply with both of the following:
(1)
Unless the disclosure area described in paragraph (2) includes the full disclosure text required by Sections 84502, 84503, 84506.5, and 84514, the advertisement shall contain a hyperlink to an internet website containing the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503,
84506.5, and 84514 in a contrasting color and in no less than 11-point font.
(2)
The advertisement shall include, for the duration of the advertisement, the disclosures required by Section 84514, if any, followed by the disclosures required by Section 84502, if any, followed by the disclosures required by Section 84503, if any, displayed according to the following:
(A)
The disclosure area shall have a solid white or black background and shall be in a box on the bottom of the advertisement. The text in the disclosure area shall be in a contrasting color and in standard Arial Regular type with a type size of at least 11-point and shall not have
its type condensed or have the spacing between characters reduced to be narrower than a normal non-condensed standard Arial Regular type.
(B)
The disclosure required by Section 84514, if any, shall appear at the top of the disclosure area, and shall be separated from the disclosure required by Section 84502 by a blank line.
(C)
Notwithstanding Section 84503, the disclosure area may disclose only the largest top contributor to the committee paying for the advertisement, and the disclosure area may
include the words “Top Funder” or “Top Funders” instead of “Ad Committee’s Top Funders” or “Ad Committee’s Top Funder.”
(D)
The disclosure required by Section 84506.5 may be displayed at the bottom of the disclosure box, separated from the disclosures required by Section 84503 by a blank horizontal line. This text is not required to be displayed in the disclosure area if the advertisement hyperlinks to a website containing the disclosures as described by paragraph (1).
(3)
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), if the image takes up fewer than 65,000 square pixels, i.e., is smaller than a standard 728 by 90 pixel
leaderboard image advertisement, then the disclosure area described in paragraph (2) may instead include the text “Who funded this ad?”. This text shall be in standard Arial Regular type with a type size of at least 8-point.
(4)
Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3), the disclosure area required by paragraph (2) is not required if it would take up more than 10 percent of the graphic or image even using the “Who funded this ad?” option allowed by paragraph (3). In those circumstances, the advertisement need only include a hyperlink to an internet website containing the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, 84506.5, and 84514.
(5)
Any text or image not required by this
subdivision shall not appear in the disclosure area, except as provided in Section 84504.8 and as otherwise authorized or required by applicable law.
(c)
Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an email message or internet website paid for by a committee shall include the disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503, 84506.5, and 84514
printed clearly and legibly in a contrasting color and in no less than 8-point font at the top or bottom of the email message, or at the top or bottom of every publicly accessible page of the internet website, as applicable.
(d)
An internet website that is linked as provided for in paragraphs (1) and (4) of subdivision (b) shall remain online and available to the public until 30 days after the date of the election in which the candidate or ballot measure supported or opposed by the advertisement was voted upon.
(e)
An advertisement made via a form of electronic media that is audio only and therefore cannot include either of the disclosures in subdivision (b)
shall comply with the disclosure requirements for radio advertisements in Section 84504.
(f)
An electronic media advertisement that is disseminated as a video shall comply with the disclosure requirements of Sections 84504.1 and 84504.5, depending on the type of committee that paid for it. If the video is longer than 30 seconds, the disclosures required by Sections 84504.1 and 84504.5 shall be made at the beginning of the advertisement.
(g)
An advertisement in the form of a post, comment, or similar communication made via a form of electronic media that allows users to engage in discourse and post content, or any other type of social media, is not required to include the disclosure provided in subdivision (b) if both of the following apply:
(1)
The advertisement was posted directly by the social media page or account
of the committee that paid for the advertisement.
(2)
(A)
The disclosures required by Sections 84502, 84503,
84506.5, and 84514 are included on the cover or header photo of the committee’s profile, landing page, or similar location for the committee’s page or account from which the post, comment, or similar communication was made in a contrasting color that is easily readable by the average viewer and in no less than 10-point font. The disclosures specified in this subparagraph shall be fully visible on the cover or header photo when the profile, landing page, or similar location is viewed from any electronic device that is commonly used to view this form of electronic media, including, but not limited to, a computer screen, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.
(B)
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if making the disclosures specified in subparagraph (A) fully visible on a commonly used electronic device would be impracticable, the cover or header photo of the profile, landing page, or similar location need only
include a hyperlink, icon, button, or tab to an internet website containing the disclosures specified in subparagraph (A).
(h)
The disclosures required by this section do not apply to advertisements made via social media for which the only expense or cost of the communication is compensated staff time unless the social media account where the content is posted was created only for the purpose of advertisements governed by this title.
References
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84502.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84514.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84503.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84506.5.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84504.8.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84504.
referencesCal. Government Code - GOV § 84504.1.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026