New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman opens investigation into Devumi, the company that sells millions of fake followers to celebs, journalists, others
Context & Ripple Effects
This investigation follows the New York Times' reporting on how Devumi runs 3.5 million-plus automated Twitter accounts, sometimes built on stolen social identities, to sell followers and retweets to more than 200,000 customers including celebrities and journalists. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office is treating that marketplace of manufactured influence as a consumer-fraud matter rather than a platform-moderation problem.
It also fits a broader enforcement streak from the same office, which weeks later would open an inquiry into cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken. The Devumi case ultimately produced a precedent-setting settlement declaring the sale of fake followers and likes illegal in New York, and later an FTC settlement alongside action against Sunday Riley over fake reviews.
First-order effects
- Devumi and its 200,000-plus customers face legal exposure for the first time: the state is asserting that selling followers and retweets — and using stolen identities to do it — falls under consumer and deceptive-practices law.
Second-order effects
- Marketing agencies buying Instagram influencer campaigns accelerate adoption of bot-detection vendors, since brands now need proof that audiences are real before paying for them.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, enforcement against fabricated engagement becomes a template other states and federal agencies copy, shifting the burden of audience authenticity onto sellers and platforms rather than buyers.
The trend: Regulators are moving from treating fake social-media engagement as a platform nuisance to prosecuting it as consumer fraud, with New York setting the template.