Australia may pursue cases against influencers promoting gambling

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) may pursue cases against influencers who are featuring gambling content, and specifically gambling content to prohibited or unregulated gambling websites in the state and Australia.

The regulator is already motnirong social media content put forward by prominent influencers and assessing whether any of this content is, in fact, breaching gambling advertising laws. Australia currently prohibits the promotion of unsolicited gambling, meaning that the country only allows players who have registered at a website and have explicitly opted to receive promotions to see those messages. The VGCCC is sepcifcally looking whether posts featuring poker machine gameplay and visits to gambling venues that are prominently featured by the influencers could be tried under the state’s illegal gambling advertising rules which are set out by Victoria’s Gambling Regulation Act 2003. Commenting on the reason behind the new initiative, VGCCC Chief Executive Officer Suzy Neilan said that the regulator is concerned about how such content may be harming consumers while also finding a way to promote potentially dangerous content to vulnerable consumers. When influencers fan out wads of cash and celebrate winning thousands of dollars, they're not only sharing content, but they're also shaping perceptions and attitudes towards gambling and downplaying the very real risk of harm that comes with it, Neilan said.

One of the key issues outlined by Neilan is that social media seems to glorify the gambling experience and does not introduce the necessary safeguards that would forewarn consumers about the dangers of gambling. People should not be filming content inside venues, and some venues have already imposed a ‘no filming’ condition in their gaming rooms. It is our expectation that other venue operators follow suit, Neilan added. Sports betting apps and poker machines can pose high risks of harm to people who gamble, Neilan notes, but this is not properly reflected in the social media content being posted. The VGCCC is all about the carrot-and-stick approach, and while looking more closely at influencers, the regulator is also hoping to find a common language and is planning to launch a new awareness campaign focused on informing influencers about the potential harms that posting on social media could cause. However, the VGCCC is not blindly hoping that this approach will work, and Neilan has already noted that the regulator is aware of social media accounts owned by influencers that portray gambling as harmless fun.

There is also the problem of role models. For many people between the ages of 18 and 24, these influencers are just that - role models- and could mislead young adults into thinking that gambling doesn’t carry any specific risks, and you can pick it up without being aware of the dangers it entails. The VGCCC has cited research that suggests that displaying gambling content on media can easily normalize it, especially among young people.