Young children are increasingly being shown gambling adverts on social media, with a sharp rise in the number of ‘targeted’ ads being shown to under-18s, according to research from the University of Bristol.
Researcher Rafael Rossi told The Guardian newspaper that “All ages were quite bad at recognising [the ads] as advertising, but young people were much less able to distinguish it”.
Previous research from the university highlighted advertising on X, formerly known as Twitter, as being a particular challenge for regulators. Analysis from the team in 2021 found that 41,000 children were following gambling accounts on the site.
It also found that two thirds of gambling ads on the site failed to comply with relevant regulations.
Rossi highlighted that the UK has fewer gambling ad restrictions than its European counterparts, with betting related adverts allowed across online, TV and radio, as well as social media and TV ads during sporting events, and called for greater restrictions.
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The Gambling Act 2005 legalised betting advertising in all forms, “provided that it is legal and there are adequate protections in place to prevent such advertisements undermining the licensing objectives”.
The act expressly prohibits ads being directed at or targeted towards children under 18.
Rossi has also criticised the gambling white paper shared in April last year, which called for “tougher gambling regulations”, which he said lacked in “actual interventions around online gambling”.
Speaking at a parliamentary debate about the issue last week, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Wood Green said: “The current codes are ill-equipped to deal with online-specific forms of marketing. The ASA should consider the creation of new codes as opposed to revisions of pre-existing codes”.
Other MPs also called for tougher regulations, including SNP MP for Inverclyde Ronnie Cowan who said: “self-regulation is not sufficient for any industry ever-hungry for more”.
