After a recent story about a teenage boy spending around £80,000 of his father’s money on sports betting shocked the industry, the call for more action to be taken to protect children from gambling associated harm has grown, and UK experts are calling on the Government to make the next move.
Duty of care
Experts from the UK gambling industry are asking for a legal “duty of care” which would focus on the dangers of gambling advertising on the young.Academics, charitable organisations, and more have accumulated data which suggests that the risks of gambling related harm amongst children and young people has increased substantially as more minors use social media and are subject to numerous gambling adverts,According to the experts, the current regulation is not sufficient to provide the necessary protection and regulations must be updated to keep up with the changes in the online world over recent years.
Telegraph campaign
The Daily Telegraph has launched a duty of care campaign which coincides with discussions amongst MPs as to whether new measures should be brought in against gambling advertising, especially on social media.There have been calls to bring gambling advertising regulations in line with those for tobacco, where no advertising is allowed that may be considered as targeting children.The telegraph campaign calls for a statutory duty to be paid by all online gambling operators to protect minors against any negative consequences related to gambling.It has also been revealed by the Telegraph that Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC, has stated that the government should introduce statutory regulations designed to protect children.The debate is expected to continue, and it is likely that some form of regulation will be introduced as a result.