The government will ban advertising for foreign gambling on commercial Norwegian television channels that circumvent Norwegian rules by sending from abroad.
Daily, large amounts of advertisements are sent for foreign gambling on television broadcasts aimed at Norway. Now the government wants to catch the foreign gaming advertisement. Minister of Culture Linda Hofstad Helleland (H) states that the first thing they are going to do is start with necessary legislative changes.
“With the current regulations, we can hit a part of the market, but those we hit can also adapt so that they will fall outside the scope of the Act,” says Helleland in a press release.
Circumventing the ban
The TV houses MTG and Discovery owns the channels TV3, Viasat4, Max and Eurosport Norway, which NRK sends from London, thus circumventing the Norwegian ban on advertising for foreign gambling companies.
The volume of money, advertising these games is increasing and the Norwegian Media Authority estimates that foreign gambling companies spent 866 million dollars on marketing against Norwegian consumers.
Numbers from gambling addiction show that the unregulated games cause a higher risk for vulnerable players. According to the government, the money-raising campaign is therefore a challenge to Norwegian gambling policy and the exclusive rights model.
Helleland believes that a law proposition should be presented to Parliament before Easter next year so that Parliament can handle the case before the summer.
– On average, 62 commercials per hour
“It is very gratifying that the government now wants to ensure that foreign gambling companies can not continue to bypass Norwegian law and send illegal advertising on Norwegian television screens,” said the acting secretary general of the law enforcement organization, Actis – Rusfelt’s cooperative body, Pernille Huseby.
She says that in Norway only Norsk Tipping and Rikstoto are allowed to advertise money games. Nevertheless, foreign gambling providers average 62 commercials per hour aimed at Norwegian consumers.
According to Huseby, the ban will mean a lot for the over 120,000 Norwegians with a tendency of risky game behavior, and for children and young people who are particularly vulnerable to such advertising.
NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
