The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) have today published new guidance to help protect and limit under-18s exposure to gambling advertisements.
The new standards have been published following a review of advertising’s impact on children and young people, which found that while "exposure to gambling ads that comply with the UK’s Advertising Codes is, of itself, unlikely to harm under-18s. Targeted restrictions are still required, however, to address the potential risks associated with irresponsible advertising. While the advertising rules don’t need to change, we have introduced new standards to strengthen how they apply in practice."
Coming into effect on 01 April, the new standards prevent advertisers from using data to target groups of people under 18 and from using influencers (including sports personalities, celebrities and other characters) who are or appear to be under 25 in their adverts. The new gambling standards can be viewed in full on the ASA website.
In addition, CAP also provides examples of scenarios to show how advertisers can avoid targeting their ads to under-18s across social media, on websites and through the use of influencers and affiliates.