The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has partnered with tech giant Facebook in a bit to limit the number of visible gambling ads.
Through this guidance, the commission aims to address the risks related to seeing gambling-related messages on social platforms.
Several areas will be utilised, such as hiding ads and toggling settings.
Other gambling bodies in the UK have already brought in new social media ad restrictions, which will come into force later this week.
Where will guidance be provided?
Through the UKGC’s partnership with Facebook, guidance will be provided in the following areas.
Hiding ads. Users can, from their news feed, control ads they want to see and make sure that they are relevant. Moreover, all ads from specific advertisers can be hidden.
The Ad Preferences feature. Within this tool, users can review the advertisers they have recently seen ads from. They can also opt to see a lower number of ads in various pre-determined topics.
Managing data. Through Ad Preferences, users can also decide on how their personal data can be used – both on and off of Facebook. This means they can, if they wish to, choose not to be targeted based on individual profile attributes.
Responsible gambling
Facebook Vice President of Global Gaming Rick Kelley said the following about the partnership with the UKGC.
“Facebook is committed to supporting a safe and transparent environment for people to control their experiences on our platform.
“We’re delighted that our partnership with the Gambling Commission will help operators to implement advertising campaigns responsibly while helping to protect the people who use our services.”
Meanwhile, UKGC Chief Executive Neil McArthur also commented on the partnership with the social media titan.
“Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling is at the heart of what we do, which is why I challenged the industry to look at how they can make better use of technology to prevent gambling-related content and adverts being seen by those individuals.
“Partnering with Facebook to produce this guidance is a welcome step for us in order to offer consumers clear, practical advice, and I hope that this will help them limit the gambling-related content they see when using the platform.”
From 1st October, members of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) will adhere to new ad codes – including social media advertising measures.
