According to ME News, on January 22 (UTC+8), AppLovin responded to a short short released by Capitalwatch, stating that it firmly refutes all allegations in the report. The report is filled with false, misleading, and illogical accusations. AppLovin has fully and transparently disclosed information regarding its significant investments, global operations, and major shareholders in its public filings. As a publicly traded company, AppLovin's common stock is freely traded on the open market, and the company cannot and should not control the buying, selling, or holding of its shares by any individual or institution.
AppLovin operates a highly compliant and transparent advertising platform, consistently adhering to strict financial compliance standards. Regarding platform governance, we employ a multi-layered, cross-verified auditing and risk control mechanism to rigorously audit advertisers and developers, including KYC (Know Your Customer) and tax compliance verification. This is combined with automated and manual auditing systems to ensure the integrity of the platform ecosystem. Furthermore, as part of platform governance, we explicitly prohibit any illegal or sensitive content (including gambling products) and will take measures such as removal against participants who violate platform rules.
Claims that "AppLovin facilitates money laundering" or that "its products are used for unauthorized downloads" are completely untrue. AppLovin operates within a mature ecosystem comprised of mainstream app stores, operating systems, and payment service providers. Apps monetizing through our platform must be publicly listed on mainstream app stores and subject to their independent review and oversight. From an economic perspective, the accusation of "money laundering" is utterly untenable: ad display providers only receive a portion of the advertiser's spending, meaning that any attempt to "launder" money through this method would require forfeiting a significant proportion of funds and leaving highly clear and auditable transaction records across multiple independent entities. Therefore, accepting the report's assumptions is tantamount to accusing the entire mobile advertising and app store ecosystem of systemic failure, a conclusion the report fails to support with any credible evidence.
AppLovin officially stated:
We vehemently reject all allegations in the report. The report is riddled with false, misleading, and illogical claims.
In its public filings, Applovin has made full and transparent disclosures regarding its significant investments, global business operations, and information about its major shareholders. As a publicly traded company, Applovin's common stock is freely traded on the open market, and the company cannot and will not control any individual or institution's buying, selling, or holding of its shares.
Applovin operates a highly compliant and transparent advertising platform, consistently adhering to strict financial compliance standards. Regarding platform governance, we employ a multi-layered, cross-verified auditing and risk control mechanism to rigorously audit advertisers and developers, including KYC (Know Your Customer) and tax compliance verification. This is combined with automated and manual auditing systems to ensure the integrity of the platform ecosystem. Furthermore, as part of platform governance, we explicitly prohibit any illegal or sensitive content (including gambling products) and will take measures such as removal against participants who violate platform rules. (Source: ME)
For information regarding AppLovin's platform governance rules, please refer to: https://www.applovin.com/en/platform-enforcement.
