[NEWS]Hong Kong Influencer Charged for Allegedly Promoting Online Gambling

[SFR10]

I kind of wonder what the name of the casino is.

I did some digging and it appears to be "Boda8 ^{[some reports mention it's a Malaysian-based platform]}"... A simple search on Google leads to similarly named websites, so I prefer not to post them here since I don't know which one is the correct one or if the platform in question is legit or not.

[arwin100]

I kind of wonder what the name of the casino is.

I did some digging and it appears to be "Boda8 ^{[some reports mention it's a Malaysian-based platform]}"... A simple search on Google leads to similarly named websites, so I prefer not to post them here since I don't know which one is the correct one or if the platform in question is legit or not.

This is where I been brought by my research https://www.thestandard.com.hk/news/article/335650/Police-arrest-AV-actress-Erena-So-over-offshore-gambling-site-promotion

But I can't find the exact name of the casino which she promotes. Maybe they choose to hide that information to avoid giving it free promotion, since for sure this news will caught lots of attention and many might get curious to check that site. I like other government to do the same actions to, especially with those influencers always says outrageous claims and said its easy to be rich when their followers decide to register on their link.

[Natalim]

We have many of those here in our country during the pandemic. Influencers advertising unknown names and probably not licensed or regulated by the government. Yet, none of them are in prison now, and none have been charged with anything.
I don't believe they are innocent about not knowing that they are promoting an illegal gambling website. They know it, but because there's a lot of money that is being offered to promote it, they still grab it. It's nice to know that some countries are very strict when it comes to this kind of problem because the victim will be those who will use it and not the influencer. Imagine how much money they made by just promoting it and I bet it's a lot. Also, I think this should be a good learning point for influencers that if they are caught doing it, the business they are promoting won't even help them because it's illegal.

I guess it depends on the law of the country. If it is in the Philippines, I remember reading news before about influencers whose Facebook accounts with millions of followers got banned, but I never read news about them getting sued. But in Hong Kong, things are different, probably because gambling laws there are stricter. Like I said, the laws of every country vary, and in the Philippines, I think enforcement is still weak.

[SFR10]

But I can't find the exact name of the casino which she promotes.

I already posted the name of the platform in question, but if you & others want to see how I connected the dots, do the following steps:

• Look for other articles that have posted the partially blurred versions of the banners ^{[e.g., this one]}, then do a reverse image search and scroll until you find a result that hasn't blurred any of the parts ^{[e.g., refer to the latter part of this article]}.
  

[Fiatless]

It’s getting to a point where, as an influential figure who accepts promotional advertising, you need to have a legal team who can verify if an offer matches your country's laws or not before you accept it to avoid being punished for what you don’t know, although some of these influencers actually know what they are doing and believe the law can’t catch up with them.

They make so much money but would not want to hire professionals who would advise them on important issues. These influencers need to always consult lawyers, tax advisors, investment bankers, and so on. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, so she would have to face the law.

I hope the same strict law will be introduced to our country because these influencers are having a free day. They have the freedom to advertise all kinds os shitty services or products.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

, although some of these influencers actually know what they are doing and believe the law can’t catch up with them.

That's the problem I have with some of them, they know fully well that there are rumours going on about how that same platform has scammed people but they will go ahead to accept their promotion offer thereby causing more other people to become victim, for example, as at the time when 1xbit had different scam issue, could you believe that some Influencers were still heavily promoting the casino? Meanwhile they already heard the rumours and evidence of people showing  how they got scammed and to tell you that these influencers knows what they are doing, when even they post some of those promotional video, they will lock the comment so that people that are victims will not come and alleged.

[X-ray]

Influencer marketing is fully regulated in hongkong. So it's weird she doesn't know it. So i guess he lacks of update regarding what regulations applied to the influencers who based in hongkong. The good part is that she's getting released. Hopefully, she doesn't repeat the same mistake.  

[leea-1334]

They should hire me,,, I would give them like 10 influencers daily promoting fake video slots and streams to entice kids into gambling

I think everyone should be allowed to earn their own money but I also feel like a lot of young kids are attracted to these influencers and they will lose a lot of money plus get addicted. Let this be a warning  

[Fiatless]

Influencer marketing is fully regulated in hongkong. So it's weird she doesn't know it. So i guess he lacks of update regarding what regulations applied to the influencers who based in hongkong. The good part is that she's getting released. Hopefully, she doesn't repeat the same mistake.  

She was not released or freed from the crime. She was only granted bail after the first court hearing. Except his legal team put up a good defense, she risks going for seven years imprisonment and a fine of up to HKD 5 million, which is equivalent to $638,000. I hope she doesn't end up as a scapegoat fo other influencers to learn.

[qwertyup23]

This is the typical behavior of most *shit-fluencers.
They don’t do their homework. They are only are the money and benefiting themselves while ignoring the potential harm on their fans.
Well, this one is going to be a scapegoat to others. Ignorance in the eyes of the law is no excuse.
I hope other shit-fluencers in her category learn from her mistakes if not they will be learning from their own.

I would actually agree with you.

Most influencers nowadays tend to neglect doing mandatory background checks on the things that they advertised because they simply blinded with the fact of money. The reason on why this is heavily penalized is because of the influence and compulsion that these people bring. Ultimately, this will affect the citizens of that country that will bring about more damage to the people in general.

Now going on the merits of her case, it is important to know the difference between an illegal act categorized as mala in se vs mala prohibitum.

If her offense is under mala in se (meaning it’s inherently wrong), then good faith can be her defense in which it stated that she didn’t know that it was illegal. On the other hand, if the offense constitutes mala prohibitum, then good faith cannot be a defense because the fact that she did the act means that she already committed the crime.

[Wakate]

Influencer marketing is fully regulated in hongkong. So it's weird she doesn't know it. So i guess he lacks of update regarding what regulations applied to the influencers who based in hongkong. The good part is that she's getting released. Hopefully, she doesn't repeat the same mistake.  

The government is regulating everything and it's a surprise how he was able to promote gambling without getting a license that will give him the power to do what he has been doing since. Many influencers have been guilty for this but until the government comes for them before they will understand the consequences of what they have been doing.

[bakasabo]

This so popular for influencers to promote something, but later give excuses that they did not know something or were not aware that they are promoting scam. Sometimes they tell truth, because they never know real intension of product they are promoting. Sometimes they promote scam or something illegal, because their manager has failed to find out info about product. Those influencers are so called talking head, while their team must do check product for legitimate.

[coin-investor]

She Thought It Was Legal
Her legal team has argued that she believed the operation was legitimate and claimed the platform did not accept customers based in Hong Kong. They also maintain that she did not knowingly participate in illegal activity.

Does she not have managers or lawyers before accepting offers because he is an influencer? Influencers command a huge talent fee before accepting an endorsement, and they usually check and research the project to ensure it's worth promoting and will not damage their reputation.
I don't think that the defense

Thought It Was Legal

is a valid defense as ignorance of the law excuses no one, now her ignorance will land her in jail.

[bhadz]

If we have this type of law just as Hong Kong, I think that many of the social media influencers have already been charged as well. Although there were some few months ago and they charged them. But it seems that they're not consistent in it. They've done that because many have complained online with the rampant online casinos that came out and they only targeted the unregistered ones leaving the registered casinos with no restriction and they're advertising in the billboards, television and even in texts.

[Orpichukwu]

It’s getting to a point where, as an influential figure who accepts promotional advertising, you need to have a legal team who can verify if an offer matches your country's laws or not before you accept it to avoid being punished for what you don’t know, although some of these influencers actually know what they are doing and believe the law can’t catch up with them.

They make so much money but would not want to hire professionals who would advise them on important issues. These influencers need to always consult lawyers, tax advisors, investment bankers, and so on. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, so she would have to face the law.  

Greed is into some of this influencer too much; they think it’s a waste of money to spend on a legal team unless they actually need it. Their manager does the whole job, and they always think with their little firm they could get away with anything.

I hope the same strict law will be introduced to our country because these influencers are having a free day. They have the freedom to advertise all kinds os shitty services or products.

Nigeria as a country needs that rule seriously, and sometimes it's not. When such rules don’t exist, but are they really enforced? In all countries, advertising and promoting something that is not legal is a crime because you are indirectly helping the service break your country's law and should be punished for that.

[Hispo]

If we have this type of law just as Hong Kong, I think that many of the social media influencers have already been charged as well. Although there were some few months ago and they charged them. But it seems that they're not consistent in it. They've done that because many have complained online with the rampant online casinos that came out and they only targeted the unregistered ones leaving the registered casinos with no restriction and they're advertising in the billboards, television and even in texts.

Are you from Nigeria, by the way?
Because that is the kind of aggressive advertising which I would only expect to happen within a society which has gambling deeply established in their daily life.
Gambling is legal here in my country and I have never seen gambling being advertised through messages on my phone, or on Television... Though, I have indeed seen some billboard with gambling advertising here in my city.

In the end, internet is very difficult to police and it would take the influencer to be within the jurisdiction of the country and Instagram, Facebook and other social media to collaborate with one's government, in order to take down videos with illegal advertising.
Though, I suspect those social media companies do not want to quickly get rid of gambling advertising, as it gives them some renevue in the mid term, in the end those influencers are like indirect workers for the social media platform.

[Agbe]

Aha that is bad. She is sorry for the humiliation. The first thing for the government to do is to know of the casino was active in the country. And if it was active then the casino should be hold responsible because if the casino was not active there, she wouldn't advertise it. But if she will be persecuted, it should be a mild or small one and not a severe punishment. Even the small punishment shows good example in the public to see. But as a citizen, she knows it from the beginning, she was probably doing it for the pay and thought the government wouldn't know.

[Pandu Geddon]

she was probably doing it for the pay and thought the government wouldn't know.

I think that’s the problem. The idea that the government might not be monitoring issues of influencers collaborating with casinos, when they get caught and it gets publicized like that, I think will be an important reminder for other influencers to be more careful in choosing what they promote. 
Even though there might still be influencers who deliberately look for loopholes, they know the risks.

[Hazink]

I guess it depends on the law of the country. If it is in the Philippines, I remember reading news before about influencers whose Facebook accounts with millions of followers got banned, but I never read news about them getting sued. But in Hong Kong, things are different, probably because gambling laws there are stricter. Like I said, the laws of every country vary, and in the Philippines, I think enforcement is still weak.

The news which I have read about the Philippines influencers is that they have been restricted from promoting illegal gambling on their social media space, and they have a few of the top influencers with massive followers on their watch list and have told them to remove all content related to illegal gambling from the time to July. If they don't delete everything, they will be charged with criminal charges, which should be enough warning for them to stop.

Influencers, content creators told: Stop pushing illegal online gambling

[Wakate]

I guess it depends on the law of the country. If it is in the Philippines, I remember reading news before about influencers whose Facebook accounts with millions of followers got banned, but I never read news about them getting sued. But in Hong Kong, things are different, probably because gambling laws there are stricter. Like I said, the laws of every country vary, and in the Philippines, I think enforcement is still weak.

The news which I have read about the Philippines influencers is that they have been restricted from promoting illegal gambling on their social media space, and they have a few of the top influencers with massive followers on their watch list and have told them to remove all content related to illegal gambling from the time to July. If they don't delete everything, they will be charged with criminal charges, which should be enough warning for them to stop.

Influencers, content creators told: Stop pushing illegal online gambling

Anyone that is caught breaking the rule that is supposed to serve as a guidelines for citizens will end up getting jailed or fined for such an illegal practices that is defacing the country laws. I don't know what will be the punishment of the influencer but I know that it wouldn't be as severe as many people have expected it to be.