Kalshi and Polymarket push influencers off election-denial posts

Kalshi and Polymarket have asked multiple creators to remove “paid partnership” tags from posts challenging the results of the Los Angeles mayoral election, arguing their affiliate rules bar misleading claims about official election outcomes and related legal

Spencer Pratt didn’t win the Los Angeles mayoral race. He slid to third place behind incumbent Karen Bass and city counselor Nithya Raman, and within days the prediction-market platforms that court political audiences ran into something messier than odds.

Kalshi and Polymarket both moved to curb promotional posts that cast doubt on the election results—posts made with “paid partnership” language on social media. For Kalshi, the trigger was a set of right-wing creator posts questioning what happened in Los Angeles. Among them was Gunther Eagleman. a MAGA influencer with more than 1.7 million followers. who suggested Pratt’s opponents were “stealing” the election.

Kalshi asked the creators to remove the posts last Friday, as Semafor first reported. Kalshi’s rules ban affiliates from questioning the integrity or accuracy of official election results and legal rulings made in connection with elections. according to a Kalshi spokesperson. “These are internal policies to guide our affiliates and partners. and they include standards around the promotion of and marketing of Kalshi markets on elections. ” spokesperson Dani Lever told WIRED.

Kalshi’s contract language isn’t publicly disclosed, but its market rules are explicit about what affiliates can’t do when election outcomes are involved.

Polymarket, for its part, also asked creators to remove paid-partnership tags from posts critical of the Los Angeles election results. The company targeted two creators. including Benny Johnson. a right-wing influencer who wrote that Raman’s odds had improved in Polymarket because “the public has so little faith in California’s elections that they just assume Democrats are going to dramatically rig it.” Johnson’s post carried a paid content partnership tag from June 4 until June 8. when the partnership tag was removed.

Johnson did not respond to requests for comment, and he has not posted any new Polymarket affiliate content since the takedown.

Polymarket’s deputy chief legal officer. Olivia Chalos. said in a statement that the platform’s guidelines already bar affiliates from providing misleading or false information. “Our existing marketing guidelines explicitly prohibit affiliates from providing misleading or false information. and we will continue to monitor and ensure compliance with our paid contributors. ” Chalos told WIRED. Polymarket declined to share the language in its affiliate contracts, but confirmed its guidelines prohibit false and misleading statements.

Still, not every post seems to have come down cleanly. The newsletter Popular Information reported earlier today that other election-denial posts still remain online—posts labeled as paid partnerships with Polymarket and Kalshi that promote election-denial narratives. Polymarket told WIRED it is pursuing additional accounts that have violated its policies.

This isn’t the first awkward corner Polymarket has cut with influencer marketing. Last week, Politico reported that Polymarket chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber pays content creators directly using PayPal, an unorthodox arrangement. It’s unclear whether Modabber paid Johnson—or right-wing commentator Kangmin Lee. whose post was also removed—for those specific partnerships. Polymarket declined to comment on the form of payment.

Kalshi and Polymarket both sell politics- and elections-themed markets, and the numbers are increasingly showing up in mainstream election coverage. CNN, for example, entered into a formal partnership with Kalshi late last year. Yet both companies are under intense scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators, and the pressure isn’t fading.

Many state officials want the startups regulated like gambling platforms rather than commodities exchanges. Dozens of lawsuits are working to force them to comply with state gambling laws. At the same time. there is bipartisan concern about how election and politics markets can encourage insider trading and market manipulation.

Against that backdrop, this latest incident lands as more than a marketing spat. It puts a spotlight on what happens when prediction-market firms rely on political commentators who treat election narratives as content.

If Kalshi and Polymarket’s guidelines are supposed to keep paid promotions from amplifying election-denial claims. the whack-a-mole nature of enforcement shows up in real time: take down one creator’s posts. and others with paid partnership labels can still be found. And with influencers already paid and energized around election conflict. these platforms are left policing the line—while their own business model keeps pulling them back toward the same loud audience.

Kalshi Polymarket prediction markets election denial influencers paid partnership tags Los Angeles mayoral election Spencer Pratt Karen Bass Nithya Raman Benny Johnson Gunther Eagleman Dani Lever Olivia Chalos