Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the research by Dr Raffaello Rossi and Professor Agnes Nairn What
are the odds? The appeal of gambling adverts to children and
young persons on Twitter, published in October.
(LD)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper, and I draw attention to my interest as chairman of Peers
for Gambling Reform.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport ( of Whitley Bay) (Con)
My Lords, this research is a useful contribution to the evidence
base and will be considered carefully in our ongoing review of
the Gambling Act, which is taking a close look at the impacts of
advertising wherever it appears. Gambling adverts must already
not be targeted at children or appeal particularly to them. The
committees for advertising practice will soon publish more on
their plans to tighten the rules in this area.
(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply, but he will know
that the research indicates how easily children can be influenced
by gambling advertisements even when they are not targeted at
children; indeed, under-age gambling is illegal, yet a third do
it and over 60,000 are now classed as problem gamblers. Does the
Minister agree that, in developing new gambling legislation, we
should do what we already do for alcohol, drugs and smoking, and
adopt a public health approach, prioritising prevention of harm
in the first place?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord is right that a public health approach involves
prevention as well as treatment. There is a wide range of
provisions in the advertising codes designed to protect children,
as well as vulnerable adults, from harm. The Committee of
Advertising Practice has consulted on further strengthening the
rules on appealing to children. We expect an announcement by the
end of the year.
(Lab)
This is a very important issue. Does the Minister agree that the
Lords committee that looked at the reform of gambling struck the
right balance between protecting the vulnerable and allowing
people to gamble if they wish to do so?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
Certainly, I had the pleasure of serving on that committee before
I joined Her Majesty’s Government. I thank noble Lords who also
served on that committee. That work and much else, including the
research that we are discussing today, will be taken into account
as part of our review of the Gambling Act.
My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-chair of Peers for
Gambling Reform. As the noble Lord, Lord Foster, has already
mentioned, 60,000-plus young people are diagnosed as suffering
from gambling-related harm in this country. What consideration
have Her Majesty’s Government given to ensuring, perhaps under
the online harms Bill, that social media companies will provide
an opt-in age-verification tool so that we can provide additional
protections for our young people to protect them from these
adverts?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I assure the right reverend Prelate that the Gambling Act review
is taking a close look at the rules regarding advertising on
social media. We want full use to be made of all the scope that
technology offers when it comes to targeting adverts
appropriately.
(Con)
My Lords, as chairman of the Proof of Age Standards Scheme board,
I ask my noble friend: will he look carefully at our proposals
for an online verification proof of age scheme to ensure that
underage children are not accessing gambling on the internet?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
As I have said, there are already strict rules on the targeting
of adverts relating to children but, as part of the Gambling Act
review, we will certainly look at the evidence that my noble
friend cites.
(Lab)
My Lords, it is of course right to shield children from adverts
promoting gambling but, as we have heard in this House on a
number of occasions, that requires the age stated by the
individual for access to be accurate in the first place. As
social media companies themselves acknowledge that the systems
and safeguards may not work as well as they should, can the
Minister confirm that the minimum standards required will be
incorporated into the upcoming online harms Bill? Will Ofcom be
responsible for ensuring that these standards will protect
children?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, I am conscious that the online safety Bill is in
pre-legislative scrutiny in your Lordships’ House, and a Joint
Committee of both Houses will be looking at this important area,
as will the Gambling Act review.
The Lord Privy Seal () (Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord, of Cheltenham, wishes to speak
virtually. I think this is a convenient point for me to call
him.
of Cheltenham (LD) [V]
My Lords, the University of Bristol research shows that gambling
adverts are much more attractive to the 16-to-24 age group than
to adults, so will the Government expand the definition of “young
persons” in the advertising codes from 16 to 17 to 16 to 24?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible
Advertising requires paid-for social media adverts to be targeted
only at people aged 25 and above and YouTube content produced by
an operator’s own YouTube channels must be restricted to accounts
verified as being 18 and above. However, all this will be looked
at as part of the Gambling Act review.
(Con)
My Lords, Twitter says it would never knowingly market to minors,
yet our experience and the report make it clear that that just
does not work. Some people want to see these adverts, but I come
back to the question of opt-ins and ask the Minister if he will
commit to an opt-in protocol for advertising for gambling.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My noble friend tempts me to pre-empt the work of the Gambling
Act review, which is ongoing. It is certainly looking at issues
such as that.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, would the Minister consider advising football clubs not
to have betting companies on their shirts but instead to follow
the good example of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, which for
six years had Save the Children on its shirts and now has the
motor neurone disease charity MND Scotland, funded by Dell
Technologies? Is that not the way forward?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
We are looking broadly at the issues of advertising and
marketing, including in relation to sports clubs, and have called
for evidence on these as part of the review.
(Con)
My Lords, as a former Minister for Gambling I have always been
very concerned about not only the effects on children of the
advertising that we see now on social media but the whole effect
of the incredible rise in advertising on our normal media—that
is, on television and radio. Can we please have a comment from
the Government as to whether we think this has gone too far, as I
do, and whether they have any ideas for the future as to how we
might restrain those advertisers?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
Operators must advertise responsibly, and we are committed to
tackling aggressive practices. We have called for evidence on
advertising and sponsorship as part of our review. The Public
Health England evidence review, which we discussed some weeks
ago, did not find evidence that exposure to advertising and
marketing was a risk factor for harmful gambling, but we continue
to keep this issue under review as we review the Gambling Act.
