Several federal politicians have called on Sportsbet to “immediately” remove its ads from social media app Snapchat after Guardian Australia reported they could be seen by children.
Sportsbet provides Snapchat users with filters to change their appearance and add effects to the content they share with friends. These filters inject the bookmaker's logo and transform users into promotional content, such as a racehorse with a Sportsbet-themed rosette or a presenter with a branded microphone.
The filters encourage Snapchat users – including around 80% of 13 to 24 year olds in Australia – to create gambling accounts and direct people to the Sportsbet website. Critics believe the filters normalize gambling and boost brand awareness among adolescent people.
While users under 18 cannot access the filters, they can be viewed by children who are sent videos from older friends or other users. You can also see them in other people's stories.
The link to the Sportsbet page is disabled for accounts under 18 years of age.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Juvenile, who called on the federal government to ban all gambling ads as recommended in a cross-party parliamentary inquiry 18 months ago, said Snap Inc – the owner of Snapchat – and Sportsbet “should stop these ads immediately today.” “. .
“Snapchat is clearly a platform for adolescent people and these ads have no place there,” Hanson-Juvenile said. “This doesn’t just affect adolescent people: Australians lose more per capita to gambling than any other country.”
Independent MP Kate Chaney, who was involved in the parliamentary inquiry, said it was “deeply concerning that gambling ads continue to reach children on platforms like Snapchat despite claims of age restrictions”.
“This is horrific,” Chaney said. “Gambling companies know that early exposure normalizes their products and creates a pipeline of future customers.
“By targeting younger audiences – intentionally or through inadequate safety precautions – they promote awareness and brand loyalty before children can critically assess the risks of gambling.”
A Sportsbet spokesman said: “We continually review our advertising approaches, as we do with all elements of our business.”
“We take all reasonable measures to ensure our content reaches an adult audience, including restricting people under 18 from clicking on a Snapchat picture, right up to the Sportsbet app.”
Last week, Sportsbet paused its advertising on music streaming platform Spotify after a father complained about adverts allegedly playing between Disney songs. The bookmaker said he was “disappointed this has happened”.
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“If Sportsbet can pull ads from Spotify following complaints about ads playing between Bluey songs, there is absolutely no justification for keeping ads on Snapchat – they need to go,” Chaney said.
“We must act immediately to remove these ads from Snapchat and all platforms where children are energetic.”
The President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr. Danielle McMullen, said the federal government must “take down this advertising” to “protect adolescent adult men” and “not introduce children to the concept of gambling.”
“Not only are they introducing children to the concept of online gambling, but also through gamification [the ads] And when you make them interactive, there is an added level of risk and harm,” McMullen said. “This isn’t a game.”
Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, a long-time gambling reform campaigner, said the filters were inappropriate and should be removed.
“Gambling advertising trains our children to normalize their gambling behavior and engage in it, even at the risk of becoming addicted to gambling in the future,” Wilkie said.
A fellow campaigner, Monique Ryan, who was a pediatric neurologist before entering parliament, said the ads should be removed “urgently”.
“It is simply not appropriate to allow this harmful industry to target our adolescent people at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives,” Ryan said. “I am appalled that we continue to expose our children to gambling advertising online and in mainstream media, putting them at risk of developing lifelong gambling problems.”
Snap Inc has been contacted for comment. A spokesperson previously said its “advertising policies restrict advertising based on user age for certain regulated categories, including gambling, which in Australia must target users aged 18 and over.”
