Sweden’s government said it will consider a ban on all adds for online gambling and other forms of gambling as it continues to grapple with the effects of increased gambling addiction in the country.
Sweden has seen a large increase in online gambling at offshore sites and has moved to tighten consumer protections as well as calling on the gambling industry to enact a code of conduct to protect vulnerable consumers.
Minister for Public Administration Ardalan Shekarabi, however, said the measures have not gone far enough and that a special commission would put forward its own recommendations on addressing problem gambling, according to Reuters.
“There is scope for the commissioner to recommend a total or partial ban on gambling advertising,” Shekarabi said.
The commission will examine whether to treat advertising of online gambling in the same way as ads for alcohol and tobacco as well as applying limits on advertising bonuses, jackpots and free-plays and whether to limit advertising during live sporting events, such as football matches, the report said.
The announcement caused a drop in stock prices for gambling firms serving the market.
In another matter, the Swedish Gaming regulator Spelinspektionen has fined the owner of Karamba Casino for violating the country’s self-exclusion rules.
The Swedish Gambling Authority said that it has assessed an about $321,210 fine on Malta-based online gambling company AG Communications Limited. The operator services Swedish gamblers through a number of gambling brands including its flagship Karamba online casino.
The regulator said that AG Communications was among a group of licensees that were found to have failed to prevent self-excluded customers from gambling.
Sweden recently adopted a new gambling code that paid particular attention to self-exclusion registries for problem gamblers. All licensed online gambling companies in the country are required to connect their operations to Sweden’s national self-exclusion register Spelpaus.se, which went live January 1.
The regulator said it was contacted by gamblers who said they were able to gamble at AG Communications’ websites, even though they had opted to self-exclude via the Spelpaus.se system.
AG Communications has blamed technical glitches for the failures, but the regulator fined the company for failing to establish a “functioning connection” with Spelpaus.se.
Last month, Spelinspektionen fined Genesis Global Limited and Paf Consulting Corporation for similar violations. Genesis, which manages the Casino Joy, Sloty, and Vegas Hero brands, among others, was fined SEK4 million (approx. $430,000). Paf was imposed a SEK100,000 fine (approx. $10,808).
