New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is facing a conflict-of-interest complaint over its use of Signal to communicate with social media influencers.
Democracy Restored, a Texas-based watchdog group that describes itself as nonpartisan, submitted a letter Friday to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board requesting an investigation.
The complaint focuses on communications between the mayor’s office and more than 200 social media influencers.
According to the letter, the administration used an official Signal account to distribute talking points and other messaging to a selected group of online personalities.
The complaint cites an August investigative report from the Columbia Journalism Review.
That report said Emilia Rowland, the administration’s director of New Media and Cultural Communications, created an official Signal account and invited a “curated list” of influencers.
“The purpose of the official Signal chat was clear — to relay talking points to more than 200 social media influencers,” Democracy Restored Director Houston Keene wrote.
“In fact, that is what occurred.”
The watchdog group argues that the arrangement raises questions about how taxpayer resources were used.
“At bottom, however, is the fact that taxpayer money is being spent on campaigns involving influencers with almost no knowledge of how or why,” the complaint states.
The organization also argues that the arrangement presents potential ethical and conflict-of-interest concerns.
“The ethical and conflicts-of-interest implications presented by the Mayor’s office’s use of this Signal chat are undeniable,” the letter says.
Democracy Restored additionally raised concerns about New York’s Freedom of Information Law.
Electronic government communications can qualify as public records that must be retained.
The complaint argues that Signal’s disappearing-message feature could make it difficult or impossible to preserve those communications.
According to the letter, Signal’s “disappearing messages and unobtainable information” could interfere with public-record retention requirements.
The issue has already drawn scrutiny from members of the New York City Council.
In September, the council held an oversight hearing in which administration officials were questioned about the influencer outreach operation.
Council members raised concerns about the use of Signal for official communications and public messaging.
Keene said the mayor’s office has provided limited information about the account since that hearing.
He also accused the administration of resisting parts of the council’s inquiry.
Mamdani has previously defended the use of Signal.
The mayor has said he does not believe the administration did anything wrong by using the messaging application, per Trending Politics.
He has also pointed out that previous mayoral administrations and city agencies have used Signal for government communications.
Mamdani has denied that the city paid influencers in exchange for interviews with him.
The administration has acknowledged concerns involving disappearing messages.
Ramzi Kassem, chief counsel to the mayor, said in September that officials took “immediate corrective action” after reports emerged that staff members had been deleting messages.
Those corrective measures reportedly included training employees to make sure Signal’s disappearing-message function was turned off when the application was being used for official business.
Keene, however, argues that questions remain.
He said the administration has not fully explained how taxpayer funds were used in connection with the influencer program.
He also said the issue of potentially deleted records remains unresolved.
“What the mayor was basically doing was astroturfing public support for his agenda by getting social media influencers to promote his government agenda and goals,” Keene said.
That characterization reflects the watchdog group’s allegation and has not been established as a formal finding by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
Keene said his organization believes the matter warrants an official investigation.
“We believe there are serious ethical and conflict of interest issues involved here, and that there is very good cause for the conflict of interest board to get involved,” he said.
The complaint itself does not establish that Mamdani or his staff violated city ethics rules.
It asks the Conflicts of Interest Board to investigate the communications, the use of taxpayer resources and the administration’s handling of public records.
For now, the dispute centers on whether the mayor’s office crossed ethical or transparency lines by coordinating messaging with influencers through Signal.
Mamdani’s administration maintains that it did not pay influencers for interviews and says it has already taken steps to preserve official communications going forward.
