Australian Influencer's Crypto Gambling Ads Allow to Run Despite Regulator Warning, Meta Says Nothing.
Influencer Dinah, with 820,000 followers on Instagram, has been promoting Rainbet, an offshore crypto casino, without adhering to guidelines from the Australian regulator. The platform is described as a "online crypto casino" by its self-proclaimed owner and features in captions such as: "WHY PAY RENT WHEN U CAN JUST DOUBLE IT???? (ty rainbet! link in bio - helps me out a lot)", alongside videos where Dinah can be seen using the app while playing or driving.
Regulators have warned social media influencers to avoid promoting illegal gambling services, but Meta failed to take action against Dinah's account despite nearly a dozen reports of her posts pushing Rainbet's crypto-gambling app to her followers in January. When reports were filed with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), Meta said that they didn't go against their community standards on fraud or scams, although it seems that the regulators are looking for such actions.
In response to previous complaints, Meta said that Rainbet had implemented measures to prevent Australians from accessing its services. However, when Guardian Australia reported one of Dinah's posts, it was allowed to remain online despite being restricted from view by teens.
Acma has previously issued a warning, stating that promoting illegal gambling services in Australia can result in fines of up to $2.4 million for influencers who share the links to these sites. It also mentioned the regulation would prevent Australians from accessing blocked sites using virtual private networks.
In this case, it appears that Meta didn't take any concrete actions despite repeated reports and warnings about Rainbet's activities.
Influencer Dinah, with 820,000 followers on Instagram, has been promoting Rainbet, an offshore crypto casino, without adhering to guidelines from the Australian regulator. The platform is described as a "online crypto casino" by its self-proclaimed owner and features in captions such as: "WHY PAY RENT WHEN U CAN JUST DOUBLE IT???? (ty rainbet! link in bio - helps me out a lot)", alongside videos where Dinah can be seen using the app while playing or driving.
Regulators have warned social media influencers to avoid promoting illegal gambling services, but Meta failed to take action against Dinah's account despite nearly a dozen reports of her posts pushing Rainbet's crypto-gambling app to her followers in January. When reports were filed with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), Meta said that they didn't go against their community standards on fraud or scams, although it seems that the regulators are looking for such actions.
In response to previous complaints, Meta said that Rainbet had implemented measures to prevent Australians from accessing its services. However, when Guardian Australia reported one of Dinah's posts, it was allowed to remain online despite being restricted from view by teens.
Acma has previously issued a warning, stating that promoting illegal gambling services in Australia can result in fines of up to $2.4 million for influencers who share the links to these sites. It also mentioned the regulation would prevent Australians from accessing blocked sites using virtual private networks.
In this case, it appears that Meta didn't take any concrete actions despite repeated reports and warnings about Rainbet's activities.
! how can u let dinah promote an offshore casino with 820k followers? thats like putting up a 'for sale' sign on ur own house 
, u gotta take action against her ads when the regulator warns u about them. its not just about protecting ppl from scammers, its also about following rules & showing u care about online safety 
. dinah might have 820k followers but she's still promoting an app that could ruin peoples lives 
. meta needs to step up ur game 
and take responsibility for policing these kinds of ads 
I know Dinah has a big following, but come on Meta, you gotta do better than just saying nothing! 
It's like you're just letting her get away with promoting this risky stuff. What if some of her followers are underage? 
Or worse, they get hooked and spend all their money on these crypto casinos? 
I wish Acma would take stricter action against influencers who promote this kind of thing. The thought of those fines being slapped on them is just the motivation needed for Meta to step up their game! 
. Like, what even is the point of having guidelines if no one's gonna enforce them? It's not like Rainbet's trying to scam people or anything... yet 
. I'm all for free speech and influencers being able to promote whatever they want, but when it comes to something as sketchy as crypto-gambling, I think some sort of oversight is needed 
I'm really concerned about Dinah's actions, she's got so many followers to look out for but she just doesn't seem to care... I mean, who wants to gamble while driving? 
It's like she's putting her followers in a tough spot and not even thinking twice. And on top of that, the regulators are warning about this stuff left and right and still nothing gets done by Meta 
.
its a huge red flag especially with the acma warning... I get that social media is all about free speech but come on, its not like she's just sharing her own opinion or something 
I mean, what's next? Influencers promoting pyramid schemes on their Instagram stories and Meta just being like "nah, chill"? 
The Acma has some serious guidelines to follow here, and I'm not seeing much effort from Meta to enforce them. Guess that's what happens when you're more worried about your ad revenue than doing the right thing... 
. Until they do, I'll be keeping a close eye on this situation and hoping that something gets done soon 
.
. It's not like she's promoting some harmless gaming app; this is blatant gambling promotion aimed at vulnerable people. What's going on? Has Meta lost its way?
dinah's posts are literally promoting an offshore casino and it's just allowed to run wild on her followers' feeds? 
where is the accountability?!
. Those Aussie regulators are trying to protect people from getting taken advantage of, but if Meta's gonna turn a blind eye, what's the point? It's like we're living in some kind of dark ages where old people like me get to worry about our grandkids getting scammed out of their savings 
), but is this really the kind of content we wanna see on our feeds? 
... fingers crossed they can get meta to take some real action next time... maybe a good ol' fashioned slap on the wrist 
. They're supposed to be protecting their users, but instead they're letting these influencers get away with promoting shady stuff like this crypto casino. Dinah's posts are basically just an infomercial for Rainbet, and it's crazy that she can just keep sharing them without any consequences 