GambleAware has published a new survey conducted on the charity’s behalf by Social Finance1 and Sherbert Research, which found that 87% of all students aged 13-17 have encountered gambling in one way or another.
GambleAware Sounds Alarm over Kids’ Exposure to Gambling Content, Ads
The children and young people who participated in the survey said that they encountered gambling most commonly via specific platforms, identified as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Kick, and Twitch, and one in six reported that they saw content creators and influencers push gambling messaging, including direct links to products, onto their followers, among whom were children as well.
One of the children taking part in the survey was cited as saying: “I usually see stuff like this daily. I’m on TikTok every day and see something like that.” Another respondent said that this type of content pounced on young people without any prompts or any relevant search history.
The algorithms would just show it to young people or even children. Out of those participating, 79% agreed that there should definitely be more rules that prohibit gambling content and advertising from circulating on social media.
Another 78% said that nobody under the age of 18 should even see gambling content or advertising. Another respondent said that they had so many YouTube ads featuring gambling shown to them that “it wasn’t even funny.”
Digging deeper into young people’s attitudes towards gambling, 67% agreed that famous people, celebrities, and influencers should not be allowed to push gambling messaging to their followers.
The law should acknowledge the new realities of gambling proliferation
GambleAware CEO Zoë Osmond OBE has highlighted the importance of this research, and the realities that children and young people face when consuming content – whether it’s via mobile phones or social media.
She highlighted the fact that social media influencers are now indeed contributing to children’s exposure to gambling content.
“It is unacceptable that children’s environments continue to be flooded with age-restricted content. Consistent exposure to influencer-driven gambling content contributes to the normalisation of gambling amongst school-aged children, and we know that early exposure to gambling at a younger age can lead young people to have a higher risk of experiencing gambling harm later in life,” Osmond concluded.
A related study published several weeks back also highlighted another important issue with the current state of gambling – ads meant to promote responsible gambling could be backfiring because they fail to present gambling as an addictive and potentially dangerous activity.