Gambling Commission Partners with Twitter to Limit Gambling-Related Content

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has partnered with one of the most popular social media platforms in a bid to help consumers reduce gambling-related content. The latest move is aimed at supporting users of Twitter who want to limit the amount of gambling-related content they see on the platform.

Safety tools already implemented on Twitter can be adjusted in such a way as to reduce the risk of exposure to gambling-related messaging and advertisements.

This is a super important feature that individuals can control with a swipe of a finger or click of a mouse. For anyone who uses the platform will know, random DM’s pop-up all the time offering big bingo bonuses and quick links to casino games, and now we know we can stop them…

…Twitter is the first platform to work with the UKGC on this initiative, although we’re being told that the gambling body is aiming to produce similar guidance with other social media platforms. Facebook in my opinion needs it. You can’t log-on without links to different online casino games sites being pushed down our throats – all sponsored content too, which means they’re paying Facebook to target you.

Katy Minshall, Head of UK Public Policy at Twitter, said: "Improving the health of the public conversation is our overall mission as is ensuring those on the service feel safe and supported. With that in mind, we’re continuing to enforce our policies, specifically around prohibited and restricted ad content as well as assessing the eligibility of ads on our service - these policies apply to all advertisers and advertisements on Twitter.

We also continue to work with industry partners on tools to support their responsible advertising priorities. We’re happy to partner with the Gambling Commission in providing those on Twitter with information on the tools and controls they can use to manage their experience."

Blanket Ban?

Is the solution to this a blanket ban? Guidance is certainly needed what with betting advertisements (bingo, casino and sports) being shared widely on social media. Neil McArthur, the Commission’s Chief Executive raised his concerns to the gambling industry this last October, stating that the exposure of gambling adverts to children, young people and vulnerable adults needed to be tackled.

He said: “Advertising spend has surged over recent years with young people and vulnerable adults being exposed to significant levels of online gambling adverts and via social media. This level of exposure is a concern and I have challenged the industry to quickly accelerate opportunities to reduce the amount of advertising seen by young people, children and vulnerable adults across all digital platforms.

Whilst we work on a plan which sets out new standards for how the industry will embrace advertising technology, I hope that this guidance will play a role in helping consumers to limit the gambling-related content they see on Twitter.”

Sky TV announced in 2018 that they would be introducing a system in which subscribers could block gambling ads across over 140 channels, yet we’re still waiting on this. Rumour has it that this will be rolled from June 2020.