39 Media outlets warned against advertising unregulated gambling operations
Lotteriinspektionen, has warned 39 online media outlets to stop promoting unlicensed gambling company as the activity is illegal under Sweden’s Lottery Act.
The move comes as the Scandinavian country is entering the final stages of the liberalization of its gambling market. Sweden’s new gambling law is set to take force on January 1, 2019 and will allow international operators to operate in a regulated environment. Lotteriinspektionen is set to open the application process for interested international companies on August 1, 2018.
In a statement from earlier this week, Lotteriinspektionen said that it has sent warnings to 39 digital media outlets as these have been featuring clickable banners that refer visitors to unregulated gambling websites. Swedish news outlet Breakit published the whole list of warned websites on Tuesday. Gota Media, Herenco, Skånska Dagbladet, and Skånemedia.
Foreign gambling operators are annually spending billions to advertise on Swedish media. However, gambling-oriented advertising has been at the center of bitter controversy for some time as Lotteriinspektionen has been trying to reduce, the amount of gambling advertising content from unregulated businesses.