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- Kalshi has officially filed a rule change with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) making athlete harassment an “impermissible activity,” granting the platform the authority to fine, suspend, or permanently deactivate users who threaten or emotionally distress third parties over their trades.
- To enforce the new mandate, Kalshi is partnering with integrity firms Signify Group and IC360 to launch a “Bad Actor Program” that will actively identify abusive social media posts and cross-reference them to Kalshi accounts—joining traditional sportsbooks like DraftKings and Fanatics that have already signed on to the initiative.
Kalshi has told the Commodity Futures Trading Commission it is adding an anti-harassment rule that could let the prediction market operator fine, suspend or deactivate users who abuse athletes and other third parties in connection with trading activity.
The rule change, filed with the CFTC on Oct. 13, formalizes athlete harassment as an “impermissible activity” on Kalshi’s platform. It matters because concerns about betting-related abuse have spread beyond traditional sportsbooks and now include CFTC-regulated prediction markets.
Under the filing, Kalshi said no person may “intentionally or recklessly engage in conduct reasonably likely to cause emotional distress to a third-party in connection with trading activity.” The rule adds that prohibited conduct includes behavior “reasonably likely to bully, frighten, threaten, scare, coerce, harass, or intimidate any third party in connection with trading activity.”
Potential sanctions could include financial penalties, account deactivation and referral to law enforcement, according to the source report. Kalshi told Sportico that a flat fine could be imposed for problematic behavior regardless of how much a person wagered.
Kalshi joins broader effort to track abusive betting behavior
Kalshi is also partnering with Signify Group and IC360 on what it described as a Bad Actor Program. The initiative is designed to identify abusive social media posts and connect them to Kalshi accounts.
Kalshi said the program is aimed at “abusive, threatening and potentially criminal behavior, rather than legitimate criticism or discussion of sports performance.” Financial terms of the arrangements with Signify Group and IC360 were not disclosed.
The same program has already drawn other gambling operators. DraftKings joined last month, and Fanatics joined in June, according to the source material.
Why the filing matters for prediction markets
The move shows how player-protection and integrity measures used in sports betting are increasingly being applied to prediction markets. The source report said recent concerns around betting-related conduct have expanded from state-regulated sportsbooks to CFTC-regulated markets.
That concern has also surfaced publicly from athletes. Tennis player Jessica Pegula, commenting on Kalshi’s U.S. Open sponsorship, said: “We get a lot of negativity from … bettors. We get a lot of hate on social media.”
The issue is also drawing attention from leagues. The NBA and WNBA launched a responsible gaming campaign with the National Council on Problem Gambling on Tuesday to “educate fans, particularly young adults, about the risks associated with sports betting and prediction markets.”
What remains unclear is how any fines would be calculated in practice, how the Bad Actor Program matches social media posts to user accounts, and whether the CFTC will take any action on Kalshi’s filing.
Source: As reported by news.google.com.
