Sweden warns about gambling ads

The country’s gambling regulator has issued warnings to 39 digital media outlets to stop promoting international gambling companies.

Sweden.- Gambling advertising seems to be one of the hottest topics for regulators at the moment and Sweden was the latest to tackle the issue. The Lotteriinspektionen has recently issued warnings to 39 digital media outlets to stop promoting international gambling sites through clickable ads.

The notice urges the websites to remove the links that direct customers to lottery operators based outside Sweden. It specifically targetted lottery operations but also included other types of operations. Still, they all seem to be from abroad, where Swedish media’s most active advertising clients come from.

The Lotteriinspektionen is leading a war on unauthorised gaming operators and Marcus Aronsson, the man behind it, explained that the body’s intention is to force media outlets “to comply with the law, which will put illegal ads to an end.”

The upcoming online market liberalisation, coming next January, is set to allow international operators to be able to apply for local licences as of August 1st. It will also allow locally licensed companies to advertise with local media but, according to Aronsson, the prosecution of illegal advertising is important even as the new scheme is being developed.