Brandon Hurst has built a loyal social media following and a growing business selling plants on TikTok, where a mysterious algorithm combined with the right content can let users amass thousands of followers. Hurst sold 20,000 plants in three years while running his business on Instagram. After expanding the business he launched in 2020 to […]
High-profile rightwing influencers were briefed on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s voter registration bill well in advance of its announcement in what appears to be a coordinated social media campaign meant to drum up support for the legislation, which is dead on arrival on the Senate. Conservative influencers posted dozens of times before Johnson, R-La., publicly […]
Regulators are taking aim at misleading investing advice on social media: Brokerage app M1 Finance just got fined $850,000 for hiring an army of influencers who advertised false claims about the company. FINRA, a government-sponsored nonprofit overseen by the SEC that regulates public brokerage firms, announced the fine Monday after an extended investigation into social […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok. The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers began a […]
Virgie Tovar is a fat activist. She’s advocated for body diversity for over a decade, written books that include You Have the Right to Remain Fat and spoken out against weight-based discrimination. But in 2023, she started receiving emails about business opportunities that don’t align with her work’s mission. These messages were pitching partnerships with […]
When wildfire ripped through Hawaii’s Maui last August, the impact was devastating: a whole town reduced to ashes, more than 100 lives lost. The inferno was described as the “largest natural disaster in state history.” But some on Instagram suggested, without evidence, there was something much more nefarious at play. Wellness influencer @truth_crunchy_mama told her […]
Virgie Tovar is a fat activist. She’s advocated for body diversity for over a decade, written books that include You Have the Right to Remain Fat and spoken out against weight-based discrimination. But in 2023, she started receiving emails about business opportunities that don’t align with her work’s mission. These messages were pitching partnerships with […]
Several influencers said they received an email from bestselling author J.D. Barker on Jan. 23 that offered them payment in exchange for creating “racy” videos to promote his book. Barker has denied writing the email but said he takes “full responsibility” for it. Behind a Closed Door, which is set for release in May, is […]
South Korea’s food ministry is telling people to stop eating toothpicks. People have been filming themselves eating toothpicks, which look like fries after being cooked. Toothpicks in South Korea are made of sweet potato or corn starch instead of wood. South Korean authorities are telling people to stop deep frying and eating their toothpicks. “This […]
ROME (AP) — A scandal over an Italian influencer’s Christmas-cake deal that authorities alleged misled consumers into thinking sales proceeds were going to charity inspired Italy’s government on Thursday to approve stiff fines for insufficient product labeling. The Cabinet approved proposed legislation that would provide for fines as high as 50,000 euros ($55,000) in cases […]
At the height of the pandemic, Neveen Radwan said her teenage daughter started searching workout videos on Instagram and TikTok to stay in shape. “In the beginning, we really didn’t realize what was happening until it was almost too late,” said Radwan. But then she said things took a turn. “How to eat at less […]
LaToi Storr, a 42-year-old content creator and lifestyle blogger based in Philadelphia, normally posts Instagram and TikTok videos of local restaurants and skincare tips, mingled with some community-focused material on Black mental health care. Last fall, she started posting a new kind of message on her feeds. In an Instagram reel in October, she urged […]