Jethro Rostedt Faces Scrutiny for Alleged Twitch Gambling Ads

Finnish businessman and TV personality Jethro Rostedt might have to pay a big fine. Officials found that gambling content tied to his Twitch account stayed online even though they told him to take it down.

Authorities Allege Twitch Gambling Marketing Continued Despite Rostedt Ban

In December 2024, the National Police Board told Rostedt he could not advertise or push gambling services on Twitch. They backed this up with a fine first set at EUR 30,000 ($35,216), then lowered to €25,000 ($29,347). The regulator says that content they saw as gambling ads could still be seen after they banned it, reported Finnish media outlet Iltalehti.

Officials say the content had many mentions of gambling deals, messages pushing viewers to play, and links taking users to overseas betting and casino sites. These links looked like affiliate connections even though Rostedt says there was no business tie. The Police Board thought the material targeted people in mainland Finland, which would break national gambling laws that give the state-owned company Veikkaus the right to market online casinos.

The regulator based its assessment on public tips and its own probe. Officials claimed the activity was not just a one-off, but an ongoing, organized operation. Visual elements linked it to Rostedt’s personal brand. These included cartoon characters that looked like him and mentions of his popular nickname, “Jeti,” which showed up on at least one gambling site.

Rostedt Rejects Gambling Claims, Calls Potential Fine Excessive

Rostedt has denied the claims and says he has never worked as a gambling affiliate or gotten money from betting companies. He says he does not have any deals with casinos and has not made money from the content they are talking about. He thinks that because Twitch is used all over the world, his streams were not aimed just at people in Finland, even though he sometimes said hello to viewers from Finland along with those from many other countries.

He claims his control over the Twitch account was for live streams and he does not manage it at other times. Rostedt says he asked the platform’s admins to remove all content the authorities flagged, but he cannot delete old material himself. He has now stopped streaming on Twitch.

In his letters to the Police Board, Rostedt called the possible fine too harsh, pointing out his current financial situation and that he did not make any cash from the alleged marketing. He also complained about how long the admin process took, saying it dragged on for an unreasonable amount of time.

The National Police Board is set to make a call on whether to put the conditional fine into action or bring in more punishments if they find the ban was broken. This case puts Rostedt back in the news, adding to his recent legal troubles. He was found guilty of tax crimes in the fall of 2024, which has kept him in the public eye.