The latest industry report of the British charity GambleAware claims that British children and adolescents want to reduce exposure to lottery advertisements. The results of the survey showed that 11-17 year-olds generally supported stricter regulation of gambling advertising and marketing for young people, and about 70 per cent agreed that “it is difficult to avoid gambling advertising and content”.
The survey, which was conducted by the international online market survey and opinion research company YouGov, covered over 3,000 British children and adolescents aged 11-24, and conducted research on the current situation with regard to the exposure to lottery. The data published so far were taken from samples of children under 18 years of age, and respondents wanted advertisers to stop advertising children and to ban gambling in child-oriented media. According to the data, about one third of the respondents had been exposed to some kind of “inducing marketing” in the past month and 90 per cent had been able to identify gambling companies in the brand list. About 75 per cent of respondents agreed that more should be done to reduce the number of gambling advertisements and content they saw.
In the GambleAware report, it was recommended that more priority be given to prevention, limiting marketing and web-based red content and maintaining resilience to the rapidly developing digital environment. “The situation of children and adolescents exposed to gambling is extremely worrying, and the latest data highlight their strong desire to change. The report also makes it clear that gambling-related harm against the population requires urgent and concerted action. It is hoped that the recommendations contained in the report will be taken seriously and that children and adolescents will be protected from the dangers of lottery.” Baroness Clare Gerada added: “The report makes clear and well-documented recommendations that should be taken seriously by those responsible for protecting children and adolescents from gambling. I call on those who promote gambling through advertising and marketing to take note of the report and begin to take the necessary action, including clearer health warnings of potential risks.”
In a separate report released last month, Gamble Aware suggested a major reform of British gambling advertising legislation, arguing that the current online gambling marketing and content rules did not adequately address the challenges of the digital age, calling on Governments to strengthen online security powers, increase regulation of online platforms and establish government working groups to explore targeted policies.
