The Betting and Gaming Council has welcomed news that Facebook is to introduce an opt-out for the vast majority of betting adverts on their platform, following a similar such move made by Snapchat earlier in the year.
This will ensure that users of the social media network who no longer want to view such advertisements will be able to do so.
Furthermore, the BGC adds that it has been “working closely with Facebook over the past year,” and hopes to come up with more new tools in the future for those who want to see fewer betting ads.
This latest move comes in addition to the updated Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising, which was released last year.
Under the code, BGC members must ensure that all social media ads must be targeted at consumers aged 25 and over, unless the website proves they can be precisely targeted at over-18s.
Earlier in the year, the BGC also detailed that it had sent communication to Twitter and Facebook, calling on both to introduce age-gating for all social media accounts to ensure that organic posts, which include gambling ads, can only be seen by over-18s.
Michael Dugher, BGC chief executive, commented: “This is yet more evidence of our commitment to raising standards in the regulated industry.
“I welcome this move by Facebook and I would urge all social media and search platforms to provide the ability for users to opt out of viewing betting adverts.
“The regulated betting and gaming industry is determined to promote safer gambling, unlike the unsafe and growing online black market, which has none of the safeguards which are commonplace among BGC members.”
