The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has no immediate plans to introduce further advertising restrictions on licensed operators, according to the gambling minister.
Speaking at a House of Lords gambling industry inquiry panel on Wednesday, 17 June, Baroness Twycross explained that the department is hiring a research fellow to gather further evidence across the gambling advertising space before committing to introducing any new policies.
The baroness said: “It’s currently hard, despite the plethora of research, to establish a very clear, causal link which suggests that advertising does lead to increased levels of gambling-related harm.
“That’s why, with a portion of the money from the statutory levy, which this government introduced, we are going to have a research fellow specifically looking at advertising within DCMS because we do accept that we need to look at what we do.
“When I’ve said we’re not going to take any further action on advertising, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to talk to the sector and talk to bodies about what more they can do on a voluntary basis.
“We don’t have plans to legislate at this time on advertising, but I do have regular conversations with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and other organisations in the space on what they can do.”
Twycross went on to say that accusations the government is taking too long to introduce gambling reforms are wide of the mark, while also highlighting the importance of not making the black market an attractive prospect.
She continued: “With respect, I do not think we have been dragging our feet on gambling reform since we came in. We have implemented a number of measures in the previous government’s white paper that the industry and campaigners did not think were ever going to get across a line – such as a gambling levy.
“I am confident I can defend the level of action we’ve got. I won’t apologise for waiting until our research fellow has looked across the range of evidence to look at what action, if any, we should take on advertising.
“I am clear it’s an issue and people are concerned about it, and we are keen, however, to make sure we don’t tip people into unlicensed, unregulated gambling activities. I don’t think that if you stop advertising by the regulated sector, you automatically stop advertising by the unregulated sector.
“By definition, they’re not going to pay by the rules, so we need to make sure the rules protect the public as far as they can.”
When it comes to TV advertising, licensed bookmakers can only advertise around live sport, though the industry adheres to a voluntary whistle-to-whistle ban for pre-watershed (9pm) televised sport.
Bingo operators can advertise 24/7, yet online casinos are restricted to slots after the watershed.
Enhanced authority
Research conducted by intelligence firm WARC and commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) estimated unlicensed operators will outspend their licensed counterparts on advertising within the next two years.
The report projected that black market firms will spend £845m by the end of this year, rising to more than £1bn by 2029.
During an earlier panel session, BGC CEO Grainne Hurst suggested both the government and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) could be given greater authority in light of the increase in influencer-led content used to promote unlicensed operators.
This was in addition to calling for a ban of illegal operators being able to market their products on social media platforms and appear in search engine results pages.
Hurst said: “We have strict rules and robust enforcement in place to make sure young people and the vulnerable aren’t being targeted, and that we aren’t linking gambling to successes or any lifestyle changes.
“In terms of what could be changed, sometimes the policy framework hasn’t kept up to date with of creator-led content, and so I think there is an area there where the regulator and the ASA could potentially extend their remit to look at some of these illegal sites that are currently advertising to young people.”
When asked about claims that BGC members are supplying black market websites with games, Hurst vehemently denied such allegations.
“Any accusation that our members do not take black market activity seriously is completely false. We have spoken to all of the members involved who have categorically denied that they are supplying the black market.
“What I think it shows is the sophistication of the criminality of the illegal market in effectively cloning our BGC members’ games, making them look legitimate, and stealing their IP – that is at the crux of this issue.
“If any member of the BGC was obviously found to be supplying the black market, not only would they not be eligible for BGC membership, but they would also lose their Gambling Commission licence.”
European jurisdictions such as Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands have introduced gambling advertising restrictions in recent years, with calls for a blanket ban growing ever stronger in the Dutch market.
Dan Waugh, partner at analyst firm Regulus Partners, exercised the need for caution with regard to potentially implementing a blanket ban.
“Particularly in the past, the industry standards of advertising have not been great,” he conceded. “When it comes to suggesting we need to do more, particularly if it’s some sort of censorship in the form of a ban, we just have to be very careful that we’re clear about why it’s justified.
“We need to look at what the problem is we’re trying to solve here, and we should also look at whether there are more intelligent solutions that address the problem we’re concerned about in a way that doesn’t result in blanket measures being imposed that may have negative consequences far beyond.”
The hearing came on the same day Entain published research carried out by USINT that uncovered more than 30 unregulated gambling sites pushing UK‑facing content across seven major social platforms ahead of the World Cup.
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Addressing a House of Lords panel, Baroness Twycross highlights no clear link between marketing and increased harm and says she “won’t apologise” for the government’s caution over any additional curbs
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