A recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal alleges that the prediction market platform Polymarket hired social media influencers to record deceptive videos appealing to young adults.
Prediction markets exploit loopholes in federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. Whereas traditional gambling operates under state oversight and state law, prediction market platforms claim protection under federal commodities laws. The companies running these platforms let people “invest” in the outcome of a ballgame, tomorrow’s weather, foreign policy, and so on.
But calling it an “investment” does not change reality. When prediction market platforms let users trade hundreds of millions of dollars on the Super Bowl game outcomes — plus millions more on trivial bets like which song would play first at halftime — that is not investing. That is gambling. Unlike other forms of gambling, however, prediction markets are not accountable to state gambling laws.
Polymarket is one of the leading prediction market platforms online today, but the company allegedly has relied on deception to attract customers.
The Wall Street Journal writes that Polymarket hired dozens of “mostly college-age” social media creators who filmed themselves “making fake trades and sometimes scoring fake wins.” The journal reportedly analyzed more than 1,100 videos, reviewed instructional materials, and interviewed creators who have worked with Polymarket.
The investigation found that the social media videos promoting Polymarket “appear genuine at first glance.” In reality, creators videoed themselves using copies of Polymarket’s website to make simulated “trades.” The Wall Street Journal says 118 of the videos it analyzed showed fake wins in which the creators reacted to “outdated footage or fake headlines suggesting they’d won.”
Polymarket allegedly recruited a social-media army to copy and re-post the deceptive videos in order to get them to go viral.
All of this is deeply troubling, because social media platforms, viral videos, and online gambling in general appeal to teens and young adults.
A recent report from mental health professionals at Baptist Health South Florida noted that gambling has moved from casinos and racetracks to smartphones — and experts say these online platforms are engineered to keep people engaged, using instant rewards and near-misses to trigger the same brain chemistry as other addictions.
And this kind of predatory gambling destroys families. Internet gambling is ruining lives. Prediction markets are no exception.
As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
