The Verge: Luxury loot box sponsorships are tearing YouTube apart. “Some of YouTube’s biggest channels are facing backlash from both viewers and other YouTube creators after promoting a form of loot box-style gambling with a company called Mystery Brand. Both Jake Paul and Brian ‘RiceGum’ Le have run sponsored videos promoting Mystery Brand — a $100,000 offer that other YouTube creators said they’ve also received and turned down.”
gambling
The Atlantic: Gambling Channels Are the Latest Victims of YouTube’s Arbitrary Moderation Process
The Atlantic: Gambling Channels Are the Latest Victims of YouTube’s Arbitrary Moderation Process. “Days before he was set to begin a month-long promotional tour for his YouTube channel, Brian Christopher learned that his account had been abruptly terminated. In the two years since Christopher has been running BrianChristopherSlots, he’s produced more than 1,100 vlogs of himself gambling, mostly on slot machines, and racked up 50 million views and 80,000 subscribers. But then, last week, his account was suspended, along with many other prominent YouTube gambling channels. In an email, YouTube explained the suspension was due to ‘repeated or severe violations’ of its community guidelines, which prohibit ‘violent or dangerous acts that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death.’ (YouTube did not respond to requests for comment from The Atlantic.)” I am not a fan of gambling but this is nuts.
Pennsylvania Creates Database of Horse Racing Rulings
The state of Pennsylvania has launched a new database of rulings given with regard to horse racing activities. “Results of official rulings issued against licensees by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission now will be available online as part of the commission’s continuing commitment to transparency and modernizing its oversight of the state’s racing industry. Historically, access to the database of rulings was limited to racing regulators. Today, any decision, matter or action taken by racing judges, stewards, or the commission, relating to racing activities now will be publically accessible and searchable…”
Chinese Authorities are Cracking Down on Baidu Again
Chinese authorities are cracking down on Baidu again. “Beijing authorities have ordered search engine giant Baidu to improve the assessment of its advertising business and marketing service agents after it was entangled in a gambling website promotion scandal last month.”
YouTubers In Trouble For Promoting, Without Disclosure, Gambling Site They Owned
A couple of YouTubers are in trouble for regularly promoting a gambling site without disclosing that they owned it. “Until yesterday, if you were to browse the video pages of popular gaming YouTubers Trevor ‘marTn’ Martin and Tom ‘Syndicate’ Cassell, you’d have found a string of videos about the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling site CSGO Lotto. These videos showed the pair gambling weapon skins on the site, which allows anyone over 13 years of age to trade their hard-earned weapon skins for actual money. They often won big, resulting in videos with titles like “HOW TO WIN $13,000 IN 5 MINUTES.”… It turns out the owners of the CSGO Lotto website are none other than Martin and Cassell.”
