Irish report calls for tougher measures to prevent exposure to gambling among minors
The Online Health Taskforce has raised concerns about gambling influencers and gambling-style mechanics in games.
Ireland.- A report on the digital marketing of health-harming products to children in Ireland has singled out online gambling for particular attention. The report calls for “enhanced online protections” for children and teenagers”.
The study draws on research from the Online Health Taskforce (OHT), a specialist body supporting policies to reduce risks posed to young people by harmful online activities. It says that despite age restrictions, children are routinely exposed to betting-related content through platform design, influencer promotion, and algorithmic amplification.
The Taskforce highlights risks such as watching betting videos, following gambling influencers, encountering odds and bonus promotions, and engaging with gambling-style mechanics in games. Such exposure, it warns, can normalise gambling behaviour well before legal age.
The report recommends restricting gambling advertising and sponsorship so that it cannot be served or recommended to under-18s, whether directly or indirectly, preventing operators from harvesting children’s data to build gambling-related profiles and enforcing stronger age-verification and monitoring tools to track exposure across social media and video platforms.
Launching the report, Dr Helen McAvoy, IPH Director of Policy, cautioned that existing protections are lagging behind the pace of digital marketing. “Our digital spaces are saturated with content selling, marketing and promoting potentially health-harming products, including tobacco and e-cigarettes, alcohol, sunbeds, gambling and foods and drinks that contribute to a poor diet,” she said. “While children actively use digital platforms, they are not adequately protected from exposure to these products online.”
The report comes just as Irish Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik renewed the party’s call for a ban on gambling advertising in Ireland.
Some lawmakers have criticised the decision not to include a ban on gambling ads in the Irish Gambling Regulation Act, which was enacted a year ago. However, the legislation does include significant limitations, including a watershed ban on broadcast ads between 5.30am and 9.00pm.
The legislation also established the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), which is currently preparing for the launch of a new licensing regime for online gambling in Ireland in 2026.
In October, the GRAI published its Statement of Strategy for 2025 to 2027, setting out its strategic priorities over the next three years. The document outlines a plan for the regulator to become self-financing within two years through fees charged to the game sector.
Minister for mental health and government chief whip Mary Butler TD commented: “Reducing technology-related harm to young people’s wellbeing is a critical issue for government. I welcome the recommendations from the Online Health Taskforce, which are grounded in evidence and the lived experiences and voices of young people themselves. These recommendations place more of the regulatory responsibility on platforms, rather than expecting young people to regulate themselves in the face of algorithms designed to capture their attention.”
