Ban on Ads for Unlicensed Gambling to Be Approved by the Swedish Government

The Swedish government is about to approve a bill that will extend a ban on unlicensed gambling advertising in Sweden by the end of this year, which was proposed in May by the country’s previous government led by the Sweden Democrats party.

The Current Swedish Government Is About to Approve a Bill Changing Gambling Regulations

The three ruling parties, the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, and the Liberal Party, together with the Sweden Democrats party have agreed to approve a bill proposal, which was introduced on May 17, 2022, by the former Sweden Democrats government. 

The main purpose of the bill was to ensure a safer gambling market through strengthened gambling regulation and stronger consumer protection.

In the bill, the previous Swedish government proposed measures to exclude unlicensed gaming from the Swedish gaming market, including a requirement for a license for gaming software, a ban on promoting illegal gambling, and an extended advertising ban for unlicensed gaming. 

This means that companies, which produce and install software for online games, must have a license to sell their products and offer their services to clients.

It also means that any advertising or promotion of illegal gambling will be explicitly prohibited and the ban on advertising unlicensed gambling will have a wider scope.

Additionally, in the bill it was proposed that new legislation will be introduced containing a reporting obligation for licensees and permit holders, an extended possibility to grant exemptions from the technical requirements, rules on the continuation of an expired license during the examination of an application for a renewed license, and adapted bonus rules for licensees providing games exclusively for public benefit purposes.

These are some of the amendments to the Gaming Act proposed by the previous Social Democratic government aiming to close off the Swedish gaming market to outside gaming companies, which operate without a Swedish license.

The Bill Will Not Be Approved in its Entirety 

The three ruling parties and the Sweden Democrats support these proposals for stricter regulations but have agreed to reject other parts of the bill. 

This includes, for example, the proposal to tighten up the requirement for moderation in the marketing of games, so that the risk of the game in question regarding developing gambling problems are taken into consideration and the extent to which the marketing is likely to reach people under the age of eighteen.

Nonetheless, the current Swedish government does not see this as a necessary change as there are such rules of moderation already in place.