All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement. Ads must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people and operators face sanction if their advertising or sponsorship activities are not carried out in a socially responsible way. These rules mean that an operator would face sanctions from the Advertising Standards Authority or the Gambling Commission if their advertising were to appear in computer games targeted at children. The realistic reproduction of a team football shirt in a computer game based on football is not considered advertising simply because there are logos on the shirt.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Advertising Standards Authority\u2019s latest figures on TV gambling advertising show that children\u2019s exposure has fallen from an average of 4.4 ads per week in 2013, to 2.5 per week in 2019. At the Gambling Commission\u2019s urging, industry has committed to make better use of advertising technology to target adverts away from children online and on social media. From July 2020 the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible advertising will require operators to ensure advertising is targeted only at those over 25 years old on social media and to age-gate operator YouTube channels and content.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures<\/a>. Since then, in March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young and vulnerable people. That study found that while there was some indication that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble, there were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour amongst those groups including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and problem gambling in later life.<\/p> <\/p> Ministers have regular meetings with stakeholders on a range of issues. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the government\u2019s website at: https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport<\/a>.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4407", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nigel Huddleston"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mid Worcestershire"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nigel Huddleston"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "65164"}
, {"_value" : "65165"}
, {"_value" : "65166"}
], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-06T17:11:36.707Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2020-06-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Gambling: Children and Young People"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effect of gambling advertising on children and young people.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4480", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Carolyn Harris"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Swansea East"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Carolyn Harris"}
], "uin" : "65163"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135411", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135411/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling is a core objective of the regulation of gambling in Great Britain, and a priority for the government.<\/p> <\/p> Operators offering gambling services to people in Great Britain must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and must have effective policies and procedures designed to prevent underage gambling. Where there is a failure to prevent underage gambling, the Gambling Commission has a range of powers to act, including regulatory and/or criminal action.<\/p> <\/p> The Government's Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, published in May 2018, set out measures to increase existing protections around gaming machines, online gambling and gambling advertising. These included new guidance from the Committees of Advertising Practice on protecting children and young people, and stricter age verification controls for online gambling operators. The response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> The Gambling Commission carries out an annual survey of gambling behaviour among 11-16 year olds in Great Britain, which gives an estimate of rates of participation in gambling activities and problem gambling. The most recent report was published in November 2018. This can be found here: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/survey-data/young-people-and-gambling-2018-report.pdf<\/a><\/p> <\/p> A report from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB, now called Advisory Board for Safer Gambling, ABSG), expert advisers to the Gambling Commission, and the Gambling Commission\u2019s response can also be found here: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/RGSB-Gambling-and-children-and-young-people-2018.pdf<\/a><\/p>