Labor’s plan for a partial ban on gambling advertising is ripe for exploitation, say experts and crossbench MPs, including David Pocock, warning rules applying to podcasters, social media platforms and influencers need to be tightened.
But industry sources say podcast companies including Apple could consider removing all wagering advertising if there were no simple mechanism to work within the rules.
Streaming video, music and podcast platforms, search engines and websites that feature wagering content, including those for the NRL and AFL, will have to require users to be signed in, confirm they are over 18, and allow them to opt out of seeing wagering content, according to a report by the government’s office of impact analysis, released on Tuesday.
Labor says the so-called “triple lock functionality” will prevent children from seeing wagering ads, and allow adults to opt out.
Simone McCarthy, a researcher in gambling and public health at Deakin University, said the current framework for the new gambling rules, due to be introduced to parliament next month, would need to address several grey areas that gambling companies and social media could exploit.
“When people work with advertisers on podcasts, they often do an ad read that is embedded in their podcast, so it … doesn’t sit separately to the whole content,” she said. “If the ad itself is kind of built into the podcast itself, being read by the host, you can’t just turn that off.
“We just know that podcasts are hugely popular with younger audiences and … they’re not easy to regulate in terms of age access and age gating that the government hopes to do. So I think it can create a bit of a blind spot in current policies that are built around platforms where audiences can be more clearly separated.”
Numerous sports podcasts are sponsored by wagering companies, including Bloke in a Bar and Hello Sport, as well as podcasts by traditional media outlets including Nine and the West Australian.
Several industry sources said platforms and broadcasters were currently considering options to implement age gating. Sources said platforms including Apple Podcasts – which under the triple-lock function would have to verify logins for adults and provide an opt-out mechanism for gambling ads – could consider removing all wagering content.
It is unclear how the rules would apply to individual podcasts and the apps they appear on, and which entity would have the responsibility of removing gambling ads, or creating the opt-out function.
Wagering content has also become more sophisticated on social media, with companies such as Sportsbet teaming up with influencers who have tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of followers on content that does not directly encourage the viewer to gamble.
Independent senator David Pocock said the reach of wagering ads across popular podcasts shows how “this predatory industry innovates and pivots quickly to target new mediums and markets”.
“Protecting Australians, especially children and young people, from gambling advertising on popular online platforms from podcasts to Spotify to YouTube seems almost unworkable under the current proposal,” he said.
“The government’s own analysis found that this partial ban is going to cost more to enforce and deliver less benefits to the nation.”
Kate Chaney, an independent MP who sat on the gambling inquiry alongside the late Peta Murphy, said the government’s reforms should not put the onus on adults to opt-out.
“Calling it a ‘triple-lock’ makes it sound much more protective than it actually is – most families share streaming accounts and unless parents painstakingly go through each platform, website and streaming service and manually find and activate the opt-out options, gambling ads will continue to be seen,” she said.
“There is little real-world evidence to suggest an opt-out model will reduce the social, emotional and financial harms caused by gambling in Australia.”
McCarthy said regulations would have to be tightened to ensure content creators who might have a small but influential following are covered by the ban. She also warned that wagering companies would try to find other ways to share social media content.
“We know that if we leave gaps in gambling regulation, the industry doesn’t hesitate to just move into those gaps,” she said.
A spokesperson for the communications minister, Anika Wells, said the government’s legislation would include more “specific definitions” to avoid loopholes.
“Further details and specific definitions will be refined through the legislative drafting process, which will include consultation with key stakeholders,” she said.
