SHILLING IS ILLEGAL

The FTC, in addressing undisclosed (celebrity, etc.) endorsements, states:

>b) For purposes of this part, an endorsement means any advertising message (including verbal statements, concernfag posts, demonstrations, or depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual or the name or seal of an organization) that consumers chan users: reading is consumption are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiserpurported, unpaid "anon", even if the views expressed by that party are identical to those of the sponsoring advertiser. The party whose opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience the message appears to reflect Media Matters, JIDF will be called the ~~shill~~ endorser and may be an individual, group, or institution.

>(c) The Commission intends to treat ~~subversion~~ endorsements and testimonials identically in the context of its enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission Act and for purposes of this part. The term endorsements is therefore generally used hereinafter to cover both terms and situations.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

https://web.archive.org/web/20180912065124/https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

I put forth that shilling—paid participation in online forums under the guise of free participation and intended to influence users' decisions—falls under the FTC guidelines for undisclosed endorsement/influencing.

(Somehow the "money as speech" idea should be used against them by linking their posts ie message as a product.)

I propose that we flesh this out with a legal hivemind and intentions to

>petition the FT

>file class-action lawsuits

>or use to propose new/revised legislation.

Fully thought out effort posting coming soon. Hopefully anons' almonds are activated and run this too.

<Can you imagine a chan without shilling?