My Cowan argued that self-regulation of the gambling industry is not sufficient. He said that “The time to review and monitor has passed. We need to understand the nature of addiction and see it as a health issue. We need to slow down gambling, build in cooling-off periods and give people space and time to consider their actions and the outcomes. Advertising does the opposite of those things; it pushes, cajoles and encourages.”
He referenced two reports written by Hub researchers. He mentioned the IPSOS MORI/DEMOS report ‘Biddable Youth: Sports and esports Gambling Advertising on Twitter: Appeal to Children, Young & Vulnerable People’ that was written by Josh Smith (DEMOS), Professor Agnes Nairn, Dr Raffaello Rossi and Jie Sheng. Mr Cowan highlighted the finding from this report that “Two thirds [of 11-24 year-olds] reported seeing gambling promotions on their social media channels.”
Ronnie Cowan MP also referenced recent research exploring gambling sponsorship in the Premier League carried out by Hub researchers Dr Raffaello Rossi and Dr Jamie Wheaton. He quoted one of the report’s findings that “92% of content marketing ads sent by major gambling brands were not clearly identifiable as advertising, which breaches a key advertising regulation, and that less than a quarter of them featured age warnings”.
Sir Iain Duncan-Smith MP also contributed to the debate where he called for online-specific advertising regulations. He argued that “The current codes are ill-equipped to deal with the online-specific forms of marketing. The ASA [Advertising Standards Agency] should consider the creation of new codes as opposed to revisions of pre-existing codes. That would perhaps ensure that social media and online marketing can be effectively regulated.”
This call chimes closely with research findings published by Dr Raffaello Rossi and Professor Agnes Nairn in 2022 and presented in 2023 to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Related Harm of which both Sir Iain Duncan-Smith MP and Ronnie Cowan MP are members.
You can watch the clip where Mr Cowan mentions our research or read the full transcript of the debate.
Additionally, the House of Commons library published a new research briefing, “Gambling Advertising: how is it regulated?” which also cited both of the research projects mentioned above, along with a quote from Raffaello about the Premier League report’s conclusion that “gambling marketing during Premier League weekends is inescapable” and that fans were “bombarded with gambling marketing through various channels, making it a normal part of football consumption”. He claimed that self-regulation of the gambling industry was “completely failing”.