Call for regulatory action to fight online gambling impact on children

Lea Hogg April 22, 2024

SiGMA news

Call for regulatory action to fight online gambling impact on children

In a report published in The Observer this week, it was revealed that children in the UK are being inundated with gambling advertisements and related content online. This is despite existing regulations that restrict such promotional campaigns from targeting young audiences. The research, commissioned by GambleAware, a charity funded by contributions from gambling companies, found that children are struggling to understand the risks associated with online gambling due to the blurred boundaries between betting advertisements and popular online casino-style games.

GambleAware has raised concerns about the appeal of gambling advertisements featuring cartoon graphics to children. For instance, a gambling company recently promoted a new online slots game on social media using three cartoon frogs, encouraging people to join the “ribbiting rascals” for a dip. This has led GambleAware to call for stricter regulations to limit the exposure of young people to such advertising.

The research conducted by the charity revealed that children find it challenging to differentiate between gambling products and content that resembles gambling, such as mobile phone games that involve in-app purchases. Zoë Osmond, the Chief Executive of GambleAware, expressed her concern about the findings. She stated, “This research shows that gambling content is now part of many children’s lives. This is worrying, as early exposure to gambling can normalise gambling for children at a young age, and lead to problems. We need to see more restrictions put on gambling advertising and content to ensure it is not appearing in places where children can see it. Urgent action is needed to protect children.”

The study was based on interviews with children and young people aged between seven and 25 about the impact of gambling on their lives. It found that young people felt their online activity was saturated with gambling promotions and gambling-like content. The report suggested that a broader definition of gambling might be necessary to include excessive or compulsive engagement with online games that have elements of betting, such as loot boxes, which can be purchased with virtual currencies or real money, and free fruit-machine slot games on platforms like Google Play.

Promotions targeted at children

Nicki Karet, the Managing Director of Sherbert Research, which collaborated on the study, commented on the confusing grey area between online gambling and gambling-like gaming. She noted that this grey area is further complicated because gambling advertising, especially online, often uses visuals and tonal expressions that seem to directly target children, such as cartoon graphics, bright colours, and sounds.

Under current advertising rules, gambling firms are prohibited from using promotions targeted at children or likely to strongly appeal to children or young people. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against gambling firms that have used characters like Father Christmas, Spider-Man, and the mascot from the Monopoly board game in their advertisements.

While firms are advised against using cartoon or animated figures to promote gambling, there is no blanket ban. For example, the online casino 32Red was recently promoting a Fat Frogs online slots game on a social media app with an image of three cartoon frogs and piles of gold coins.

Dr Raffaello Rossi, a lecturer in marketing at Bristol University who has researched the effects of gambling advertising on young people, argued that regulators have done “too little, too late” to deal with the vast amount of online promotions that might appeal to children. He called for the development of new advertising codes to better protect young audiences from such content.