UK MPs urge total ban of gambling ads on TV

02/03/20

MPs from the UK believe that removing TV gambling adverts will help stop addiction in the territory.

UK.- Former Tory minister Mike Penning is leading a protest against gambling ads on TV, urging the government to come up with a solution. They believe that banning gambling ads on TV will help stop gambling addiction.

MPs from all parties are behind the move that urges the government to act on gambling ads on TV, local media reported. An Early Day motion urges a ban on “gambling adverts on TV and the internet outright.”

Recent figures show that the number of gambling addicts in the UK has risen to 430k adults while betting firms have recently spent millionaire figures on online ads. This figure rose 56% in the past five years to £747 million, compared to £234 million on TV, the Mirror reported.

UKGC releases new guidance

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced a partnership with Twitter to create guidance to support users who want to limit the amount of gambling-related content on the social media platform.

This new guidance sets different ways in which the platform’s safety tools and settings can be adjusted within an individual account, to help mitigate the risk of exposure to gambling-related messaging and advertisements.

Moreover, the UKGC said that it will focus in 2020 on producing similar guidance for users of other social media platforms. Twitter is the first social media platform to work with the UKGC on this initiative.