Children and advertising
The Gambling Commission reports that:
- 59% of 11-16 year olds have seen gambling advertisements on social media, compared to 66% on television.
One in eight 11-16 year olds follow gambling companies on social media and they are three times more likely to spend money on gambling.
Of those who have ever played online gambling-style games, 24% follow gambling companies online.
Compared to other potentially harmful activities, the rate of gambling in the past week among young people is higher than the rates of drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and taking illegal drugs.
In April 2019, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) created a number of child ‘avatars’ (online profiles that simulate children’s online web browsing) to see the type of advertisements that inundate children online. Over a two-week monitoring period, they identified advertisements by 43 gambling operators appearing on freely accessible ‘non-login’ online environments, and child avatars were served gambling as on 11 of the children’s websites monitored.15 Regulatory action was taken in response.
The previous figures indicate to the DAP that a licensing objective is not being met with regard to protecting children. The DAP has been unable to find evidence to demonstrate operators are successful at ensuring that at-risk and problem gamblers are being shielded from gambling advertisements.
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Consumer response
Last updated: 26 May 2021
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