October 26, 2017

Operators have been informed in a joint letter issued by the UKGC, CAP, the ASA and the RGA on 20 October 2017 that they must remove adverts on online websites or third party media that are: (i) likely to appeal to children (i.e. under 18) and (ii) freely accessible.  The letter came as a response to a Sunday Times article which alleged that operators had been targeting children with online games that feature cartoon characters and other imagery that are of particular appeal to minors.  The UKGC shares this concern, writing to its licensees to request that games which feature such imagery should not be freely accessible on gambling websites.

The requirement that adverts must not be of particular appeal to children is not new.  A number of operators have recognised the inherent risk in certain games and have refrained from making the subject of any non age-gated advertising campaigns.  Such operators have historically pointed to the fact that robust (and mandatory) age verification processes in the online environment are very effective in preventing children from accessing pay-to-play versions of these games.  However, it has been made very clear that the fact that only free-to-play versions of these games are freely accessible is unacceptable.

To many, this prod from the various regulators concerned was inevitable and a long time coming.  Few could argue that there aren’t games on the market which are of particular appeal to people under the age of 18.  Clearly there are instances where the position is less than clear cut, which is acknowledged in  the UKGC’s letter.  The UKGC advises that operators exercise caution where this is the case, and we tend to agree.  Where there is a concern, operators would be well advised to either re-design such games or only make such games available behind an age barrier (i.e. they are only accessible to registered customers).