In Depth: How Livestreaming Snake-Oil Sellers Exploit Advertising Loopholes

If Wang Meng hadn’t gotten sick last December, she might not have realized the sway health livestreamers have over her mother.

When Wang Meng was in excruciating pain from acute gastroenteritis, her mother advised her to drink an enzyme essence instead of going to the doctor — a remedy Wang’s mother had purchased from a livestreaming health influencer.