BGC to Protect Customers by Collaborating with Social Media Platforms

Over the last few years, the popularity of online gambling activities skyrocketed. Some users engaged in iGaming activities, pushed by temporary closures at the peak of the pandemic, while others learned about such gambling options from advertising, which is widely spread across social media.

Now, the single industry body for the UK gaming and betting industry, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), urged for support from social media companies in an effort to help protect vulnerable groups from gambling advertisements. On Wednesday, the Council confirmed it addressed its concern by submitting a written statement to Lucy Frazer MP, the country’s Culture Secretary.

In its letter, the BGC explained that its members have already vowed to protect specific age groups from gambling ads and limit advertising for individuals who have self-excluded via schemes such as GAMSTOP. However, the Council said, to effectively protect such consumers, the members would need support from social media platforms.

As a result, the BGC urged the Culture Secretary to request social media platforms to collaborate with the BGC on this topic. Ultimately, such collaboration is expected to benefit some 300,000 people who have already self-excluded, said the Council. It also supported a “marketing suppression scheme” that would effectively ensure that people registered with GAMSTOP will no longer receive gambling ads via social media platforms.

“Standards body, The Betting and Gaming Council, want to implement new measures for online adverts but are being undermined by social media platforms,“

reads a statement released by the BGC

Collaboration between the BGC and Social Media Platforms Is Needed

The recent announcement comes on the heels of the Gambling Act White Paper, which is expected to bring significant changes to the gambling regulatory framework in the country. While those changes are upcoming, currently, BGC members have agreed to only advertise and target audiences over the age of 25, “unless platforms can provide evidence to verify the accuracy of their targeting to over 18s.”

“I would urge you to help on this matter by calling on social media platforms to finally cooperate with the BGC and make the relevant functionality available, so we can help protect the most vulnerable.“

Michael Dugher, chief executive at the BGC

Commenting on the latest topic, Michael Dugher, BGC’s chief executive, explained that the restriction of the advertisements from Council members to audiences above 25 is impossible without an effective collaboration with social media platforms. “This is a sensible solution, which BGC members are keen on implementing, but we cannot do so without the cooperation of social media platforms,” he said. Finally, Dugher once again urged the Secretary to ask social media platforms to collaborate with the BGC in order to protect problem gamblers and young people.