Swedish trade association weighs in on gambling ad debate

The Swedish Gambling Association (SPER) has rejected Swedish Equality Commission (SEC) proposals to regulate gambling marketing in line with tobacco and alcohol advertising. The dismissal comes in response to the commission’s report from August 2020 to the Swedish Ministry of Finance, which called for radical changes to the Swedish gambling market to combat problem gambling in the country. In its report, the SEC suggested changes should be made to the Swedish Freedom of Expression Act by forcing gambling operators to display similar warning messages to those used on cigarettes, by referencing the potential negative effects of gambling. SPER dismissed the need for such messaging, insisting there was no evidence of influence on instances of gambling-related harm. “Should the government nevertheless consider introducing some form of warning text, it should only be applied to advertising for such games which, according to the risk classification, are considered to entail the greatest risk of gambling problems and the messages should be reflective,” SPER added. The trade body, which represents several Swedish-licensed firms, also rejected SEC calls for a centralised, government-monitored platform for all online gambling in Sweden to oversee consumers. Addressing this recommendation, SPER claimed the creation of a database of this sort would lead to diminished channelisation and highlighted the regulator’s (SGA) assertion that a database of this sort would be unmanageable due to the work involved in its development. “The SGA’s final report also indicates that the processing of personal data that needs to take place due to a national register for gaming limits will probably be so intrusive in personal integrity that explicit and relatively detailed legal support will be required for what is to be registered in the register,” SPER wrote. “SPER also wants to point out that the proposal entails major technical challenges in designing, implementing and operating a portal that covers all games,” the trade body added.