There is joking about criticism from the consumer council during Sønderthon: 18+ has become a meme

Rasmus Søndergaard himself posted a picture on Instagram on Saturday, the day before the stream started, with the text: "Content forbidden for children, tomorrow at 3 PM."

Many of the viewers, who have already exceeded 80,000 (https://twitchtracker.com/sondergaardlol), have also taken an ironic approach to the matter.

When, for example, a Red Bull is in the picture, or someone drinks a Red Bull, the chat floods with the comment "18+."

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Criticism perceived as skewed

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Sofus Bynge believes there is broad agreement, also among creators, that there should be clear rules for advertising and children and young people.

But when Søndergaard's followers react by making snide remarks, according to Sofus Bynge, it may be because energy drinks are perceived as something on the more harmless end. It is also not illegal to sell energy drinks to children.

Therefore, in their view, the criticism of Søndergaard comes across as skewed.

- The point is not that it is wrong to take the energy drink case to the Consumer Ombudsman, but for this community, it seems like the wrong place to start when there are other areas where significantly less is being done to protect children and young people, Sofus Bynge explains and adds:

- It seems paradoxical to them that a 12-year-old is allowed to buy an energy drink at the kiosk, but he is not allowed to watch Søndergaard and drink it.

© Ritzau Scanpix

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Who and what are Rasmus Søndergaard and Sønderthon?

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He was born in the year 2000 in Østerbro, Copenhagen.

At age 19, he began streaming live on the Twitch platform while playing the computer game League of Legends. Later, his content shifted focus from gaming more towards Søndergaard himself.

Today, Rasmus Søndergaard has a combined following of over 800,000 across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch.

Right now, he is in the middle of his second subathon titled 'Sønderthon'. A subathon is one long live broadcast where the mission is to stream around the clock to get as many subscribers as possible. It started on Sunday and is planned to last 15 days.

Along the way, there are various competitions and challenges, and Søndergaard receives visits from a number of well-known guests. During the first few days, musicians Christopher, Annika, and Malte Ebert have stopped by.

Rasmus Søndergaard himself believes the criticism is skewed.

- I completely disagree with the complaint, but we are listening because we need to look after the youngest. There are indeed challenges with content aimed at children that is far from what I do, and I support that stance. They are just shooting at the wrong people here, he stated in a comment last week, which his press team continues to refer to.

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The Danish Consumer Council 'Tænk': Not marked well enough

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Influencers who have a "not insignificant portion" of followers under 18 must comply with the special rules for marketing aimed at children and young people.

>

> We can see that they have tried to mark it as advertising, but it does not appear

> with sufficient clarity.

>

The Danish Consumer Council 'Tænk' assesses that this applies to Rasmus Søndergaard's audience.

There is no set general percentage for how many followers are required. However, in a case from 2022 (https://forbrugerombudsmanden.dk/find-sager/sager/markedsfoeringsloven/sager-efter-markedsfoeringsloven/boern-og-unge/influenter-med-foelgere-under-18-aar-maa-ikke-reklamere-for-tatoveringer), the Consumer Ombudsman established that 12 percent was "not insignificant."

- The Consumer Ombudsman sets strict requirements for advertising marking when an influencer enters into a commercial collaboration, especially when it concerns children and young people. We can see that they have tried to mark it as advertising, but it does not appear with sufficient clarity, nor does it state who the ad is for, writes Marie Frank-Nielsen, senior legal advisor at the Danish Consumer Council 'Tænk', to DR.

They have no opinion on the fact that Søndergaard and followers are making fun of their complaint.

- The most important thing for us in this case, however, is not the degree of advertising marking, but rather that Red Bull is marketing energy drinks – an unsuitable product – to children and young people, says Marie Frank-Nielsen from the Danish Consumer Council 'Tænk'.

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Big difference between being 7 and 17 years old

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Sofus Bynge says there are probably many under 18 watching Søndergaard, but he emphasizes that there is a big difference between being 7 or 17 years old. And that matters a lot for the conversation about what responsibility streamers and other creators have.

- That nuance of what children and young people actually spend their time on has been boiled down to whether there are some under 18 following Søndergaard or not, he says.

Sofus Bynge hopes that the case with Red Bull and Søndergaard can spark a broader conversation about how to create meaningful rules for influencers.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.