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Social media companies have been urged to cooperate on safer gambling. Increased focus is wanted on limiting marketing seen by young people and problem gamblers.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) wants to introduce new measures for online adverts; however, the BGC feels this is not being reinforced by social media platforms.
BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher has reached out to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer MP. Dugher wrote to Frazer urging her to put more pressure on social media companies.
In the letter to Frazer, Dugher says: “This is impossible to achieve without the cooperation of the social media platforms themselves. This is a sensible solution, which BGC members are keen on implementing, but we cannot do so without the cooperation of social media platforms.
“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.”
BGC has reported some positive results to its work, with the percentage of problem gamblers in the Uk falling to 0.2% in 2022.
The BGC would like to limit the frequency of ads for younger age groups. BGC members have already taken steps to ensure only those legally allowed to bet will receive online marketing for regulated betting and gaming products.
A new BGC code of conduct was also recently introduced, suggesting that football clubs should not use their social media accounts to post direct marketing on betting odds and sites, with football content being very popular with younger audiences on social media.
