UK Online Casinos Forced To Remove Kid-Friendly Games

Gambling, much like smoking or drinking alcohol, has always been an industry squarely aimed at adults – you can’t participate in it unless you’ve got absolute proof that you are of legal age to engage in it, and if you find a way to subvert that, well, the casino’s not at fault at all! Still, despite all their claims that casino games are most certainly and without a doubt aimed at an adult demographic, the evidence against that is hard to overlook. Sure, traditional casino games like blackjack or roulette most likely won’t appeal to the overwhelming majority of children, and betting sites are typically far too complex for someone so young to successfully navigate, but what about slots? They’re pretty, colorful, have cute animal characters, and the overwhelming majority of them can (and probably will) be enjoyed by a very young audience. And worst of all, slots (unlike any other form of gambling) can often be played for free, without any sort of registration required. That, combined with their child-friendly appearance, could promote gambling to a young audience. Well, the Gambling Commission has noticed, and they’re having none of it.

Teaming up with the Advertising Standard Authority, UK’s Gambling Commission has officially issued an order for child-friendly slots to be removed from a large number of online casinos “effective immediately”. As many of you may be aware, the Gambling Commission’s word is basically law in the world of legal/licensed casinos, which is why many have begrudgingly began to remove many of the games which have been deemed to be aimed at children, such as NetEnt’s popular “Jack and the Beanstalk” slot. While many are upset by the sudden ruling, some casinos, such as William Hill, have embraced it as a way to win favor with Parliament, whose rulings (such as a ban on gambling-related advertisements) have grown increasingly more strict as cases of gambling addiction grow by the day. The newest ruling by the Gambling Commission has undoubtedly been made with nothing but the best of intention, but unfortunately, the murky wording of the order may give the Commission an excuse to pull practically any slot they like off any platform.

In the open later to online casinos, the Commission never specifies an exact list of slots that violate their policies. They ask casinos and slot developers to use their own judgment – to quote directly from the document, “if you are uncertain about whether an ad might appeal particularly to under-18s, CAP advises you to exercise caution and amend or withdraw the ad.” For reference, according to earlier context, “ad” refers to both advertisements using kid-friendly mascot characters and slots that offer “free play” without a registration. This is a problem because, with a few exceptions (like the Playboy slots), the overwhelming majority of online slots can be subjectively described as meant to appeal to children and removed without a fair trial. Admittedly, the Gambling Commission hasn’t taken any actions other than implore casinos to moderate themselves, but if this trend continues, the whole thing may very easily be used to censor content that, for one reason or another, is unappealing to either casinos or the Commission.