Sweden’s Minister for Public Administration wants to tackle “dangerous” online casino games and restrict “aggressive” gambling ads
Sweden may follow in Italy’s footsteps and introduce a blanket ban on gambling advertising, as the country’s Minister for Public Administration Ardalan Shekarabi believes licensed gambling are not doing enough to protect vulnerable people.
Minister Shekarabi said at a press conference today that an investigation will be launched into the way gambling products are advertised in Sweden. Based on the results of the probe, the Minister and fellow lawmakers will craft a dedicated legislation that could involve a partial or full ban on gambling adverts.
Minister Shekarabi said today that the Swedish government will “do what it takes” to protect the most vulnerable members of the country’s population.
The Scandinavian nation’s new gambling law took force on January 1, 2019, opening the local market to international operators. More than 60 foreign online casino and sports betting companies have been licensed by the local regulator, Spelinspektionen, so far. Advertising their products across Swedish media was one of the important privileges licensed operators were offered.
Under the new law, companies should make sure that their adverts are not too aggressive and do not target children. Minister Shekarabi first voiced concerns that the country’s regulated market was not doing enough to protect vulnerable people in February.
Back then, he summoned Spelinspektionen’s licensees and urged them to adopt more moderate advertising policies or their self-regulatory regime would be terminated and replaced by more stringent measures.
Tighter Rules
Minister Shekarabi said that as gambling companies have failed to promote their products and services in a moderate and socially responsible manner, the time has come for the government to step in and introduce certain limitations.
As mentioned above, a probe into the gambling advertising sector is to be launched. Investigators will be expected to come up with solutions to the current situation. Minister Shekarabi said at today’s press conference that a full or a partial ban on gambling adverts will certainly be among the moves under consideration.
As part of the looming crackdown on gambling ads, operators might face restrictions on where and when they can promote their products. In addition, they might be required to state how much a gambler could lose if they engage in gambling activities.
Further limitations to the way certain types of gambling products are marketed to Swedish customers are, too, among the anticipated measures.
Minister Shekarabi said today that “dangerous games” such as the ones provided at online casinos should be limited. The lawmaker justified the possible regulatory action against online casinos and how these are advertised with a recent report by the Swedish Public Health Agency, according to which the majority of the nation’s problem gamblers are frequent players of online slots and table games.
Google’s Amended PPC Advertising Policy
News about the looming clampdown on gambling ads in Sweden arrived just a day after it became known that Google will begin accepting pay-per-click advertising from gambling companies licensed in Sweden from April 29.
However, online gambling affiliates will not be treated to the same privilege. At least, for now. Google has not clarified whether it would permit affiliate marketing companies to join operators at a later stage or the recent decision of the tech giant was a permanent one.
Svenska Spel Nixes Online Casino Adverts
Sweden’s former gambling monopoly Svenska Spel announced earlier this month that it has terminated all its online casino ads after “intensive internal discussions” and that it believed that was the right decision as part of its continued effort to protect its customers.
Svenska Spel was only allowed to go live with online casino products this year when Sweden’s new gambling law took effect. The company said that its decision to drop its online casino ads was prompted by the results from the above-mentioned study by the Public Health Authority. According to the survey, nearly 30% of Sweden’s avid online casino players found it difficult to curb their gambling habit.
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