United Kingdom Imposes Stricter Regulations on Advertisements from International Social Media Platforms
UK's Advertising Regulator Expands Jurisdiction over Gambling Operators
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK's advertising regulator, has announced a significant expansion of its jurisdiction to include social media marketing by gambling companies licensed to operate in Britain, regardless of their location.
This move aims to ensure all marketing communications targeted at UK consumers by licensed gambling operators are regulated and held to account by the ASA. Previously, non-paid-for content from such operators fell outside the Code unless the advertiser was based in the UK or used a ".uk" domain.
According to Raffaello Rossi, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Bristol, this loophole was both large and long-standing. He described it as "a massive loophole" that allowed gambling brands to bypass UK social media advertising regulations. Rossi's team identified 100 social media ads breaching regulations over one Premier League weekend last year. ASA investigations into unregulated social media ads were dropped due to a lack of jurisdiction.
The issue of unregulated social media advertising by several large UK gambling operators, such as Paddy Power, Bet365, and Ladbrokes, has been identified. These companies have registered their offices overseas, creating a potential enforcement gap. Notably, the largest British gambling operators with an international registration, like Microgaming based in the Isle of Man, have been highlighted.
The change primarily affects licensed gambling operators that use social media channels to target British consumers without having a UK-registered company address. The volume of unregulated content, according to Rossi, was huge, with potentially hundreds of thousands of gambling ads outside the ASA's remit.
The Gambling Commission's licensing conditions require compliance with the CAP Code. The ASA Council can now rule consistently on such ads by any authorized gambling operator, regardless of their location. CAP will undertake a formal review after the consultation period closes on 1 December.
Raffaello Rossi expressed his shock that it took so long for the ASA to act on the issue of unregulated social media advertising by gambling operators. He believes this change will significantly improve the regulatory landscape, ensuring consumer protection and fairness in advertising practices.
Stakeholders have three months to comment on the impact of the extension of the ASA's jurisdiction over social media marketing by gambling companies. CAP stresses that it does not expect the change to impact other sectors. Enforcement of these regulations remains with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
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