Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries wrapped over ads

The Austrian Senate has found that two print ads breached the Austrian press code of honour.

Austria.- The Austrian Senate has found that two print ads that featured content from Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries breached the country’s press code because the editorial features were not identified as promotional content.

The offending pieces described charity work supported by the two companies, including a Red Cross campaign and a shelter for the vulnerable in Vienna. They appeared in Kronen Zeitung on March 24 and Kurier on March 26 this year. An identical article was published in Der Standard but in that case was clearly identified as advertising copy.

After a reader made a complaint to the Austrian Press Council, the articles were found to breach points three and four of the Austrian press code of honour, which demands impartiality in editorial content.

The Austrian Senate has concluded that the articles were presented in a promotional way, with typical characteristics of paid ads, such as identical promotional language in each instance and a lack of criticism. It said that even if a promotion was not paid for, it must still clearly be marked as an advertisement.

It has asked the publications to acknowledge its conclusion.

Earlier this week, the Salzburg State Police Department announced that it destroyed 107 illegal gaming machines that were seized in eight raids carried out between May 2020 and May 2021.

Police in Austria have been clamping down on illegal gambling over the past 18 months after reports of a rise in illegal gambling in urban centres. Officers across the country carried out 276 raids between January and July 2021.