DJ Khaled’s Instagram Posts Featuring Alcohol Might Be Against Federal Law

DJ Khaled's famously entertaining social media posts may have not always been that legal. According to a report published by TruthAndAdvertising.org (TINA) this past Sunday (April 8), the Florida DJ has posted a wide array of thinly veiled alcohol adverts across his Facebook and Instagram accounts without indicating that they were, in fact, advertisements.

In screenshots posted by the advertising watch group—which were collected over a period of time between June 2017 and March 2018—we see that Khaled included the names of liquor brands like Sovereign Brands’ Belaire sparkling wine and Bumbu rum, Diageo’s Ciroc vodka and Bacardi’s D’Usse cognac in the captions of his photos. Usually, there's a bottle of said liquor lurking in the background.

On March 29, organizations like TINA, Alcohol Justice, US Alcohol Policy Alliance, Public Citizen, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Digital Democracy issued a warning to the platinum-selling artist, telling him that his liquor-focused social media posts were a violation of Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They claim that Khaled's large number of followers below the legal drinking age make his posts that much more harmful.

TINA.org reports that since they and other watch groups sent the Florida DJ a warning message, Khaled's social media accounts have been devoid of any alcohol-related content. Additionally, Khaled has included the #AD hashtag to 150 of his social media posts, while flat-out deleting many others. Still, TINA reports that Khaled's posts—even with "drink responsibly" messages attached to them—are still violating social media policies regarding alcohol.

For now, TINA.org has decided not to file a complaint with the FTC, but they will keep track of Khaled's social media activity in the future.

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