The Chinese gambling industry with a very hostile atmosphere

Recently, I looked into the "recruitment medical examination fee" incident of OKBET. Regardless of who is right or wrong, it essentially boils down to a dispute between job seekers and recruiters over who should bear the cost of the medical examination if the interview is unsuccessful. However, what could have been resolved privately escalated into a storm dubbed "exposure of HR" due to repeated carrying, dramatization, and adaptation, leaving people astonished.

Similar plots unfold daily across various channels.

Today, "Zhang San owes Li Si money," tomorrow, "Wang Er and Huang Wu slept together," and the day after, "Chen Liu has serious behavioral issues."

Exposures, grudges, smearing, and wanted posts take turns playing out. Some joke that the gambling circle is even more exciting than the entertainment industry.

The gambling industry, especially among the Chinese globally, has a unique aggressive temperament. Why is this?

Firstly, it's an industry not protected by law, operating in a gray area, where practitioners generally feel "out of control."

This is an industry where you might make money today and lose everything tomorrow.

Without labor laws, property boundaries, or judicial protection, practitioners are in a highly uncertain environment. When unable to defend their rights through institutions, aggression becomes the cheapest form of self-defense.

Secondly, the absence of a guild system leads to imbalanced relationships between different industry levels.

Companies can arbitrarily reduce salaries, delay commissions, lay off without explanation, or even imprison and abuse; employees can expose, set the tone, or betray and bite back.

In an industry without rules and adjudicating bodies, the strong prevail, trust is non-existent, and the outcome is mutual harm.

Thirdly, the media is distorted, treating aggression as a tool for traffic.

In the gambling circle's media ecosystem, especially on TG channels, very few genuinely create content. Most channels survive on "carrying, distorting, and editing."

No one cares about the truth; emotions have the power to spread. Whoever controls the narrative controls the traffic. Public opinion doesn't seek the truth but chases eyeballs. Over time, everyone is performing, and no one speaks human language anymore.

Aggression isn't innate but is forced by the industry's disorder, leading to extreme behaviors that profoundly impact the industry's development, including revenge, kidnapping, and murder... This indirectly led to the permanent expulsion of "POGO" from the Philippines.

I've tried to put myself in others' shoes, wondering if I could avoid being vulgar if my interests were infringed. The answer is no. So, in such an environment, how can individuals and companies protect themselves?

For individuals, first, reduce emotional involvement and refuse to be manipulated by emotional content; second, interpret information rationally and not easily become an accomplice; third, build long-term professional credibility, not relying on exposures for attention.

We may not be noble, but we strive for clarity. We can't change the environment, but we can avoid becoming part of it.

For companies, first, proactively disclose mechanisms, processes, and commitments to reduce misunderstandings; second, when attacked, don't underestimate or confront, but respond in a "reasonable and transparent" manner; third, internal governance should have a baseline, not sacrificing long-term reputation for short-term benefits.

In this "ownerless, unsupported, and unordered" game, while we hope for kindness from each other, we end up hurting each other. If you want to come out unscathed, try not to get easily involved in the frenzy of aggression. Don't add fuel to the fire, don't play with fire.