TikTok’s hosting of gambling ads underlines the pervasiveness of the problem

In Australia, advertising for online wagering is permitted. Such ads are subject to what the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) describes as “strict rules”.

Many parents might think their “strictness” highly debatable.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) reports that in 2021, there were an average 948 gambling ads per day on free-to-air TV in Victoria. This included an average of 148 per day between 6pm and 8.30 pm on weeknights. Four times as many ads were aired per hour during sport than during other programming.

The current ACMA rules prohibit ads during G, C or P programs from 6am to 8.30 am, and from 4pm to 7pm. These are “family” programs that children may watch without supervision (G), including those made specifically for children (C) or preschoolers (P).

During programs made for children, such ads are prohibited between 5am and 8.30pm.

Read more: Who pays the price when sporting codes embrace the bookies?

Generally, gambling ads are required to avoid “socially irresponsible” content (such as promoting gambling to children). They’re also prohibited, with some exceptions, from five minutes before the start of the start of play, until five minutes after the end of play.

But these rules only apply from 5am until 8.30pm.

Horse and dog racing, coverage of sponsored signage or sports uniforms, or advertising for gambling venues where gambling may occur are exempt from these prohibitions.

Similar rules apply to online streaming services.

No ACMA oversight of social media

However, gambling advertising on social media isn’t covered by ACMA rules. This means social media platforms are able to run gambling advertisements if they choose to.

Many social media sites place restrictions on such ads. Google allows gambling ads if they target approved countries, have a landing page that dispalys information about responsible gambling, and never target minors”. Meta, operator of Facebook and Instagram, has similar policies.

These companies require advertisers to seek advance approval. Twitter allows ads for some forms of gambling in Australia.

TikTok’s prior prohibition on gambling ads has recently been amended for Australia, with the policy now including a statement that: “A closed pilot for sports betting is currently in operation for one managed client who has obtained permission from TikTok via an application process.” That client is SportsBet.

SportsBet is now Australia’s largest wagering operator, having eclipsed Tabcorp via a recent merger.

Wagering revenue (that is, what punters lose) in Australia is estimated by industry sources at over $7 billion, making the sector both the fastest-growing and the second-largest by revenue after the poker machine sector (worth about $15 billion).

With this revenue comes significant political clout, and influence with the broadcast industry and sporting codes. With an ad spend of $287 million in 2021, media have significant investment in forestalling any advertising restrictions. The revenue from gambling is one reason why the AFL, NRL, and cricket all have broadcast rights deals in the billions.

TikTok is top of the heap

There’s no social media platform more popular with the young than TikTok, which “is most popular with teenagers around the world”, according to the Digital Marketing Institute, describing it as “the fastest-growing social media site of all time”.

It has a billion users worldwide. As Nicholas Carah of the University of Queensland recently observed, “it would be difficult for TikTok to moderate whether the users seeing these ads were over the age of 21”.

ACMA’s rules for free-to-air and online sport advertising can be criticised for being difficult to follow, hard to enforce, and ineffective.

Any parent of a sports-mad child knows that it’s not really possible to turn off the game at 8.30 on a Friday night, when it may have more than a half to run. That means enduring the gambling ad bombardment permitted after that time. Children suffering this bombardment are reportedly interpreting the game via the odds, rather than the form and skill of players, teams and coaches.

How can online restrictions be enforced?

Is it possible to enforce restrictions on online advertising? Italy, where all forms of gambling advertising are prohibited, fined Google €750,000 in August 2022. It allowed ads to run on its YouTube subsidiary.

Broadcast channels Seven and Nine in Australia were recently sanctioned by ACMA for breaching the existing rules. No fines were imposed, but enforceable undertakings were required by both companies.

Social media platforms – digital creations run by algorithms – can edit out whatever they like. Some do – Facebook at one point famously banned images of breastfeeding mothers (although that policy has now changed). TikTok has a long list of prohibited content. So does YouTube.

These policies may not always be enforced as well as they might. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to require social media providers to adhere to reasonable policies, such as prohibiting gambling ads. TikTok still mostly does.

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What’s clear is that closer scrutiny of Australia’s gambling businesses has revealed a veritable swarm of malfeasance and regulatory breaches.

Inquiries into casinos, the poker machine sector, and online bookies have all disclosed malfeasance on a grand scale.

This has included money laundering, but perhaps more importantly, breaches of the (very modest) rules around exploiting vulnerable people. Crown Melbourne was recently fined $120 million for such breaches.

The Australian government also recently announced new “taglines” for gambling advertising, confirming the uselessness of the “Gamble Responsibly” slogan.

An open-and-shut case in preventing harm

Given all of this, it’s arguably very clear that gambling ads need to be heavily restricted, if not stopped altogether.

Phasing them out over a period of time may be possible. However we view the merits of advertising by bookies, if we’re serious about protecting the most vulnerable members of our society – children – from the many harms of gambling, it’s an open-and-shut case.

It’s not as if people who want to bet don’t know how to do it.

What we do know is that continuing to allow all children to be bombarded with gambling ads will lead to the normalisation of gambling, and a growing toll of avoidable harm. That is an absolute certainty.