A number of federal politicians have urged Sportsbet to “immediately” pull its advertisements from the social media app Snapchat after Guardian Australia reported that they are often considered by kids.
Sportsbet gives Snapchat customers with filters that may alter their look and add results to the content material they share with buddies. These filters splash the bookmaker’s emblem and rework customers into promoting content material, corresponding to a racehorse with a Sportsbet-themed rosette or a presenter with a branded microphone.
The filters encourage Snapchat customers – which embody about 80% of 13 to 24-year-olds in Australia – to create playing accounts and direct individuals to the Sportsbet web site. Critics consider the filters normalise playing and enhance model consciousness amongst younger individuals.
Whereas the filters can’t be accessed by under-18 customers, they are often considered by kids who’re despatched movies by older buddies or different customers. They’ll additionally view them on different individuals’s tales.
The hyperlink to the Sportsbet web page is disabled for under-18 accounts.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Younger, who referred to as on the federal authorities to ban all playing advertisements as beneficial by a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry 18 months in the past, mentioned Snap Inc – the proprietor of Snapchat – and Sportsbet “should pull these ads down immediately today”.
“Snapchat is clearly a platform for young people and these ads have no place on there,” Hanson-Younger mentioned. “This doesn’t just affect young people: Australians lose more per capita to gambling than any other country.”
The unbiased MP Kate Chaney, who was a member of the parliamentary inquiry, mentioned it was “deeply concerning that gambling ads continue to reach children on platforms like Snapchat, despite claims of age restrictions”.
“This is appalling,” Chaney mentioned. “Gambling companies know that early exposure normalises their products and creates a pipeline of future customers.
“By targeting younger audiences – intentionally or through inadequate safeguards – they’re fostering familiarity and brand loyalty before children can critically evaluate the risks of gambling.”
A Sportsbet spokesperson mentioned: “We continually review our approaches to advertising, as we do with all elements of our business operations.
“We take all reasonable steps to ensure our content reaches adult audiences, including restricting anyone under 18 from clicking on a Snapchat image through to the Sportsbet app.”
Final week, Sportsbet paused its promoting on the music streaming platform Spotify after a father complained about advertisements allegedly taking part in between Disney songs. The bookmaker mentioned it was “disappointed this happened”.
“If Sportsbet can withdraw ads from Spotify after complaints about playing ads between Bluey songs, there’s absolutely no justification for maintaining ads on Snapchat – they need to go,” Chaney mentioned.
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“We need immediate action to pull these ads from Snapchat and any platform where children are active.”
The president of the Australian Medical Affiliation, Dr Danielle McMullen, mentioned the federal authorities wanted to “get these ads out of action” to “protect young adult men” and “not introduce kids to the concept of gambling”.
“Not only are they exposing kids to the concept of online gambling, but by gamifying [the ads] and making them interactive, there is an additional level of risk and harm there,” McMullen mentioned. “This isn’t a game.”
The Tasmanian unbiased MP Andrew Wilkie, a long-term campaigner for playing reform, mentioned the filters have been inappropriate and must be pulled.
“Gambling ads groom our children to normalise and engage in gambling behaviours, at the risk of future gambling addiction,” Wilkie mentioned.
Fellow crossbencher Monique Ryan, who was a paediatric neurologist earlier than coming into parliament, mentioned the advertisements must be eliminated “as a matter of urgency”.
“It is simply not appropriate to allow this harmful industry to target our young people in an extremely vulnerable stage in their lives,” Ryan mentioned. “I am appalled that we continue to expose our children to gambling advertising online and in the mainstream media, putting them at risk of developing lifelong gambling problems.”
Snap Inc was contacted for remark. A spokesperson beforehand mentioned its “advertising policies restrict ads based on users’ age for certain regulated categories, including gambling, which must be targeted to users aged 18-plus in Australia”.
