Update: Trevor “TmarTn” Martin has since removed the video from YouTube.
A scandal has been unfolding in the Counter-Strike community, as a few YouTubers were found to not have disclosed their business relationships with CS:GO Lotto, a betting website. Not only did they have a partnership with said betting website, but they owned the website that featured in many of their videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjyGQV2i9eU
Now Trevor “TmarTn” Martin, one of the YouTubers caught in the scandal, has apologized with a video. He opens with saying that he will keep the video “short and sweet as possible,” before expressing how much he appreciates his fans.
“Now, my connection to CS:GO Lotto has been a matter of public record since the company was first organized in December of 2015,” he said. That statement was made despite several YouTubers pointing out that his relationship was not disclosed in his CS:GO videos, though those videos in question have now been made private.
“However, I do feel like I owe you guys an apology. I’m sorry to each and every one of you who felt like that was not made clear enough to you,” said Martin. He would go to say that he is committed to making sure that his YouTube channel (as well as all his other businesses) “are in compliance with the law.” That includes not allowing minors under the age of 18 to gamble on his website. These are two points that several people (including H3H3 Productions) have called him out on, saying that by not disclosing his relationship with CS:GO Lotto that he was in violation of the Federal Trade Commission’s digital advertising guidelines. Further, allowing minors to gamble on these game skins, which holds real monetary value, is illegal.
“I’ve seen a lot of people focusing on the ‘under the age of 13’ section of our privacy policy,” he said. “All the section states is that we do not knowingly record information of children under the age of 13 years old, in compliance with the COPPA Act. This has nothing to do with and does not mean that we condone minors under the age of 18 to play on the site.”
He also addresses the accusations that the winnings in his and Tom “ProSyndicate” Cassel (VP of CS:GO Lotto) videos were rigged. He stated that every game on his website was “legitimate” and that he would make sure that it would stay that way. He would finish off the video by thanking his fans and subscribers for sticking by him, hoping that he can earn their trust back.
Since the the news about this scandal with Martin and Cassel has been made public, it was revealed that other YouTubers were also guilty of the same thing, such as PsiSyndicate. He would create his own video saying that he was sponsored by Steamlotto, another CS:GO betting website, and they had rigged his winnings for his videos. He also did not disclose his business relationship with the website in those videos.
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