Government publishes Gambling white paper

In 2020, the Government launched a review of gambling regulation to determine whether it was fit for the digital age. Its recent white paper, which was published on 27 April 2023, confirms that online gambling ads will be considered as part of the OAP - which is reviewing the entire regulatory framework for online advertising in the UK. 

However, the whitepaper also encourages the ad industry to do more to tackle harms relating to gambling advertising. Specifically… 

• It encourages platforms to introduce an opt-out mechanism for gambling ads 
• It calls on operators to utilise targeting technology to protect children and vulnerable adults from gambling ads 

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is currently reviewing the parts of the white paper that relate to advertising and deciding whether - and if so, how - the self-regulatory system should respond. We will keep IAB UK members updated on this.