German gambling regulator warns Twitch to comply with ad rules

Germany’s new gambling regulator says that Twitch’s updated rules are still insufficient.

Germany.- The new German gambling regulator Die Glücksspielbehörde (GGL) has warned Twitch that its streaming platform must comply with Germany’s rules on gambling advertising under the Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty. It said Twitch’s recently updated community guidelines were a step in the right direction but were still insufficient.

The GGL has already taken up enforcement duties but will be fully up and running as Germany’s regulator for online gambling at the start of the new year. It said Twitch should clarify its rules before the GGL takes over full regulatory duties on January 1, 2023.

Earlier this month, Twitch reacted to criticism of gambling streaming with a ban on certain gambling content. It banned the promotion of  “unsafe slots, roulette, and dice gambling sites” from unlicensed operators. However, it remains to be seen exactly how that will be interpreted in practice – in particular, whether licences from any jurisdiction will be accepted and how the rules will be policed.  

The guidelines state that “starting October 18 we are further tightening our rules also to prohibit any streaming of listed sites that contain slots, roulette, and dice games and are unlicensed in the US or other jurisdictions that offer consumer protections like deposit limits, waiting periods, and age verification systems”.

However, the GGL says that the streaming platform’s update is insufficient because “in Germany, every form of advertisement or bringing attention to illegal gambling websites is forbidden”. Only businesses on the country’s own whitelist of locally licensed operators are allowed to promote to German audiences. 

It stated: “Permissions from European or non-European, for example, American, authorities would not be recognized in Germany. The gambling providers permitted in Germany are listed on the official whitelist. This list is updated regularly.”

The GGL said that Twitch must ensure gambling complies with German legislation on promoting gambling offers and games allowed to be advertised to the German public. It went further and warned that streamers that promote illegal/unlicensed gambling would face criminal prosecution.