Online regulations for influencers

1. Controversial Advertisements
and Promotions by Influencers

2. Advertisement on Gambling
• 1) Twitch streamers Felix Lengyel (Known as “xQc”) and Trainwrecks were
criticised for taking a sponsorship from gambling sites and actively gambling
for an audience of 10,000+ viewers in their respective streams.
• While licensed gambling is in line with the community guidelines of Twitch, it
still remains a controversial issue with the community due to its taboo
nature. What made it receive even further scrutiny was due to:
i. Not having any tags that indicated that it was a paid advertisement (despite both
streamers verbally stating in the stream that it was)
ii. Not having any symbols of disclosure. This is particularly worrying as a portion of the
viewers are those who are under 18 years old.
iii. The gambling streams are created to “portray” that you always win.

4. • 2) Another streamer by the name
of Roshtein was also criticised for
actively gambling in front of large
audience which consists of
viewers under 18 years old.
He was also criticised for actively
giving out codes and links to the
gambling sites to the viewers
while streaming.

5. Advertisements on cryptocurrency (Pump and Dump schemes)
• Youtubers such as Tana Mongaeu, KEEMSTAR, and Logan Paul have all
promoted “The next big thing” in cryptocurrency.
• In these instances, the influencer tells their millions of followers that they’re
making money off a crypto coin. A fraction of their followers will invest in
said coin, expecting to make gains as well. As more followers buy-in and the
price spikes, the influencer sells their shares and makes a profit, driving the
share price down and thus denying their followers out of the same return.
• This has been a subject of scrutiny as loose regulations on cryptocurrency
has allowed influencers to manipulate people into gambling their money into
a currency that has no value while losing all of it in an attempt to join in the
crypto bandwagon.

7. Misleading advertisements
1) The cosmetics and skin care company Nu Skin made the headlines for
misleading advertising. It was held that the company, by the use of
Argentinian influencers, did not provide truthful, clear and detailed
information about its products.
 The influencers were instructed by Nu Skin to promote the products of the company as
“Promising to provide a full life and a feeling of youth" while not disclosing the contents
of the product to the public. The influencers were also told to use label the products as
“little devices”
 The controversy of the company and its products is that it may manipulate the
emotions of consumers, and that people who do not fulfill certain beauty standards
must use the products to reach that standard.

9. 2) Sugarbear hair supplements is a product that has been advertised by
Youtubers and celebrities to promote “thicker and longer hair” and
“achieving better sleep”
 However, lab tests done on the supplements have shown 2 things:
i. From a clinical point of view, there’s not enough data to support taking multivitamins for better
hair, skin, and nails unless a person is deficient in one (or all) of the nutrients found in
SugarBearHair.
ii. The vitamins had relatively high level of lead compared to other brands.
 This has caused criticism from the public to influencers suchas Kim Kardashian for not
fully disclosing the functions of the supplements.

11. 2) Malaysian cosmetic brand “DYXY” has employed several Malaysian
influencers such as Fatin Zahrishaa, Sharifah Rose, and Nora Danish to
promote their line of products. The influencers had posted different things
which include statements like “First choice cosmetic brand” or “Simple
beauty made easy”
 However, it was recently discovered that the company had been buying their stocks in
bulk from a factory (Timbang Kilo). What made the situation worse was that stocks
made by cosmetic factories are known to contain dangerous chemicals which
damages the skin, causes inflammation and rashes. More serious cases can also
include cancer as a side-effect.
 This is in-line with customer reviews that have stated that they are suffering from itchy
skin, rashes, and sudden inflammation.