UK’s BGC heeds to calls for making social media safer for youngsters by announcing new advertising guidelines. UK football clubs will now have to follow stricter guidelines with the gambling content they post on their official social media handles.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) UK’s gaming industry standards body has established tougher rules on social media advertising by football clubs in a bid to protect youngsters from viewing gambling promotions. BGC has moved to introduce the code of conduct after concerns were raised over the gambling advertisements that UK football clubs often post on their official Twitter handles.
Mind you, the same questions were raised last week by a group of former gambling addicts supported by MPs, in a letter that was penned to 11 different clubs in the region. However, for this letter, the primary concern was that social media posts with gambling messages for the football clubs could push recovering gambling addicts to engaging in betting once again.
A Highlight of the New BGC Code of Conduct
BCG’s new social media advertising rules for football clubs dictate that age-gated organic partnered posts with gambling operators must have an 18+ age restriction and a GambleAware message. A disclosure that the post is an advertisement should also be disclosed to ensure that users understand the Tweet or post is a promoted ad that targets users who are over 18 years old.
For non-age-gated organic partnered posts on the other hand, the BGC has prohibited football clubs from posting any of the following messages (in text or graphic images) on their official social media accounts;
Additionally, if a brand image is included in a non-age gated organic post, an 18+ age limit and GambleAware messaging must be added. For such posts where the message isn’t strictly targeted to users over 18 years, only safer gambling graphics will be allowed.
As part of this initiative to protect underage audiences from getting into contact with gambling content on social media, the BGC also disclosed that it will be sending a letter to Twitter and Facebook. In this letter, the social media platforms will be encouraged to introduce an age-gating tool for all social media accounts so that only audiences over 18 years old can view organic advertisement posts that come with gambling messages.
BGC chairperson, Brigid Simmons expressed his support for the new advertising rules for football clubs in the following statement;
Quote“Football clubs are an important part of the sporting fabric of this country, followed by millions of all ages on social media. Our members rightly have a zero tolerance approach to gambling by under-18s, so as an industry we are understandably concerned that children may be exposed to betting adverts on Twitter.
Our new guidelines make clear the standards expected of football clubs when they post gambling promotions on social media, and I look forward to them being put into practice as soon as possible.”
BGC Continues to Hold the Industry to High Standards
This isn’t the first time the BGC has released regulations to protect youngsters against messages on social media. Last year in August, the industry trade body rolled out the Sixth Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising to instruct its members to ensure that all their sponsored posts via social media are promoted strictly to users over 25 unless they can show that the advertisements can target users aged 18 and above with flawless precision.
The sixth code of conduct also required that its members include an over 18 disclosure and safer gambling message on all their advertisements promoted via search engines.
Similarly, to protect youngsters, social media platforms like Facebook have also been working hand in hand with gambling watchdogs like the UKGC. Under this safer advertising partnership, Facebook rolled out new tools that users can use to tweak the promoted content that users can view while using the platform.
The new rules for social media advertising by football clubs in the UK will be effective starting 1st March 2021.
Discover football-themed casino games inspired by the 2026 World Cup - from live dealer tables to crash games and online slots. You’ll find new ways to enjoy this world-class tournament beyond sports betting.
Stake leads the way in adventurous advertising in celebration of football. Going beyond the scope of ordinary and bringing to life something extraordinary - A football match in the sky.
Looking for the best crypto casino bonuses? Discover the top 7 crypto casinos offering generous welcome rewards, free spins, cashback deals, and ongoing promotions.
Casinos
Games
Jackpots
