The UK Committee of Advertising Practice is readying regulations to block gambling ads from appearing on websites or in computer games that are popular with children.
The edict is part of new rules designed to stop irresponsible gambling. Bookmakers will be required to use targeting tools to ensure online gambling promotions are not seen by children. That includes avoiding websites that are popular with children and stopping the use of celebrities or other people who appear to be under 25 in their promotions.
The rules could block many athletes in the country from appearing in gambling ads.
The rules will go into effect in April and are designed to clarify existing standards amid growing concern over the prevalence of gambling promotions in all forms of media, the committee said in a press release. That includes requirements that gambling operators use “all the tools available to them on a social network platform to prevent targeting their ads at under-18s.”
Earlier this month the UK’s advertising watchdog banned gambling ads that appeared in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here app for breaking rules designed to stop minors form being encouraged to bet. Three ads from Coral Interactive were also banned for featuring animated images of a rainbow, a pot of gold and a leprechaun.
“Playing at the margins of regulatory compliance is a gamble at the best of times, but for gambling advertisers it’s particularly ill-advised, especially when the welfare of children is at stake,” said Shahriar Coupal, the committee’s director. “Our new standards respond to the latest evidence and lessons from Advertising Standards Agency rulings, and require that greater care is taken in the placement and content of gambling ads to ensure they are not inadvertently targeted at under-18s.”
