U.S. Attack Hits Iranian Wedding, and Influencers Are Being Quietly Paid to Talk Politics

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**Will Jarvis** (0:33)
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Will Jarvis, in for Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, September 3rd. Here's what we're covering.
A New Times investigation has found that a deadly explosion at a wedding in Iran this week was caused by a bomb dropped by US forces. The attack, which Iranian officials are calling a war crime, killed at least five people, including a six-year-old boy, and injured at least 67 others, according to an Iranian aid group. It happened on Tuesday night in a port city close to the Strait of Hormuz, as American forces said they were retaliating against Iranian attacks. US. Central Command said it struck communications sites in the region, and video showed a large communications tower in the city being hit by an airstrike and crashing down. About 150 yards away, eyewitnesses said another airstrike hit a residential area, punching a hole through the roof of a home where guests were gathering for the wedding.
Iranian news footage from the scene that the Times verified showed doors shattered, ceilings collapsed and blood on the floor. One local photographer told the Times that most of the injured were women and children, and that in the chaotic aftermath, quote, people were carrying small children in their arms trying to get them to the hospital in pickup trucks and any vehicles they could find. The Times also collected videos of weapons remnants and shared them with a former US. Army explosives expert who said they came from a glide bomb. That type of weapon is used by the Pentagon and not by Iran. In a video published by US forces on the night of the attack, that same type of bomb appeared to be loaded under the wings of a US fighter jet. In response to questions about the attack, a spokesman for Central Command said it was aware of reports and that, the US military never targets civilians. Since the beginning of the war, the Times has documented damage to dozens of health care facilities and other civilian infrastructure in Iran. My colleagues have found significant evidence that U.S.-made weapons were used in deadly strikes on residential areas, a sports hall, and an elementary school.

**Pam Belluck** (2:48)
I am focused on who I think is currently the most progressive, viable candidate in the race.

**Will Jarvis** (2:53)
And that's not just me saying this either. With just two months to go until the midterm elections, Come on, she's the only candidate in the race who has not taken a dime of corporate pack money. The Times has been digging into a surge of videos on social media that are being quietly paid for by political campaigns.

**Ken Bensinger** (3:09)
We found literally hundreds of influencers around the country who had taken money ranging from as little as $10 per post up to huge sums of money to support a candidate. It's in state races, it's in federal races, it's even in mayoral and smaller level races. We're seeing this kind of paid content everywhere.

**Will Jarvis** (3:28)
My colleague Ken Bensinger covers media and politics for The Times. He says that unless you dug deep into campaign finance reports, you'd almost never know that some of the people in your social media feed talking politics are taking money directly from politicians and political groups.

**Ken Bensinger** (3:44)
In general, there are very few laws requiring any kind of disclosure from social media influencers when it comes to paid political content, which is different than what we see for commercial content. So if an influencer is being paid to promote toothpaste or vitamins, they are legally required to disclose that. Likewise, the Federal Elections Commission requires candidates when they do a billboard or a TV ad to put a message on the bottom of the ad that says, paid for by candidate blah, blah, blah. That is not something that they require for social media influencers. In a sense, the regulations haven't caught up to technology in our years behind, and there just are not good laws requiring disclosure except for in a handful of states.

**Will Jarvis** (4:21)
Meanwhile, Ken says one of the ways campaigns connect with influencers is by using online platforms where content creators offer their services to anyone willing to pay. And in some cases, that's had pretty surprising results.