A look into controversies surrounding Spencer Noren’s social media page, Ventura Forward

Spencer Noren is the founder and face behind Ventura Forward, a social media page focused on sharing updates and commentary on local news and events around Ventura. He has grown his Instagram account to over 39 thousand followers by posting about community events, public projects and issues that catch local attention.  

Noren moved back to Ventura after leaving for about 20 years and then started a group called “Ventura Peeps” through a post on the app Next Door saying to meet at Simones Coffee, a local coffee shop here in Ventura, to which no one showed up. This is what he said inspired him to start what is now Ventura Forward. He wanted to give the community a platform to express its voice. 

In addition to reporting on local events and happenings in Ventura, Noren has made contributions to the community, including coordinating and hosting events, sharing news and undertaking clean-up projects, such as cleaning street signs, cleaning roads and maintaining pathways. He also likes to give back to the community in different ways such as giving away gift cards. 

Henry Oesterle ‘27 said, “I’ve seen some of his stuff online and it seems like he does a lot of community service in Ventura. I know he’s a polarizing person but I think he has good intentions and wants to make Ventura a better place. However, I don’t really agree with some of the stuff he says.”

Noren also posts claims about local issues or events online. On r/Ventura and in Instagram comments, people criticize or rebut claims he has made. 

“I made a rule in the very beginning. No profanity, no name calling. Those messages get deleted every time. I don’t like censoring people so if an opinion is different from mine I don’t censor it at all,” said Noren. 

However,  Noren has removed at least one comment that does not use profanity or name calling but does rebut claims he made. On Aug. 3 2025, Noren created a post about the Measure E Solar project that Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) was pursuing.  Noah Randolph ‘26, a student at Foothill High School, commented on his differing opinions from Noren’s and critiqued Noren’s argument on VUSD’s Measure E Solar project.  The comment was deleted and additionally Randolph was banned from the Ventura Forward account. The VUSD Instagram account commented, rebutting and answering questions made on the post. Noren said, “[I didn’t] even see [VUSD’s comment,] didn’t even look at it, didn’t even know.”

Noren said, “A lot of [my fact checking] is definitely trusting my community members…the last thing I want is to spread misinformation.”

Noren may also violate Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines due to incorrectly declaring financial, employment, personal or family relationships with businesses. 

Noren, along with his wife, own a company called Yo Social Media that provides a partnership with the Ventura Forward Social Media account. Their service offers memberships starting at $250 per month that goes up to $2500 per month. Depending on the tier businesses sign up for, they can receive story mentions, interactions on social media, collaborations and podcast mentions. Noren said, “Each month, I’m posting a list of sponsors, meaning businesses that pay money for paid advertising.” As of Nov. 21 the last sponsor’s post was made almost 3  months ago on Sep. 4.

Although Noren declares his paid sponsors in a monthly post, he may still be violating FTC guidelines. The Cougar Press reached out to the FTC for clarification, and although the FTC is not allowed to comment on individual actions, they directed the press to their website. Per the FTC website, “The disclosure should be placed with the endorsement message itself…If your endorsement is in a picture on a platform like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, superimpose the disclosure over the picture and make sure viewers have enough time to notice and read it. If making an endorsement in a video, the disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with the video.”