Lithuania Bans Gambling Advertising

While online gambling is booming - and a recently declining offline segment of the market is starting to return to normal - some governments have begun to impose new restrictions to curb the growth in the number of gamblers involved. So, recently, the Lithuanian government announced the introduction of a ban on any kind of advertising of gambling entertainment, including welcome promotions, gifts, tournaments and other types of events to attract gamblers to the game. Lithuanian legislators adopted the new draft almost unanimously - 105 votes in favor, with only 14 abstentions. Spreading across both offline and online gambling markets, the new law will come into force on July 1, 2021. According to the Lithuanian government, the new amendments will help not only solve the existing problems with gambling, but also reduce the attractiveness of gambling in general and save the budget of the country's citizens.

Although the new law will only come into force in early July, casino operators are already prohibited from posting any advertising content outside of their website. In addition, according to the law passed a year earlier, all operators of land-based and online casinos are forced to place warnings about the dangers of gambling in their advertising texts and videos. Recall that the problems with gambling in Lithuania arose against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people forced to stay locked up at home began to look for new options for entertainment. According to the government, aggressive advertising of casino operators has led to a high rise in the number of people addicted to gambling.

The decision to completely ban any form of advertising for gambling dates back to November 2020 when the Gambling Regulatory Authority conducted a survey. According to the results of a survey in which 1001 respondents participated, in more than 52% of cases the answer sounded like "any advertising of gambling should be definitely prohibited", while more than 3/4 of the respondents considered that advertising should be at least limited. In addition, about half of those surveyed said that they had encountered gambling advertisements in one form or another. Notably, in April 2020, all locally licensed casino operators voluntarily agreed to stop any advertising during the first lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pending ban also has its opponents. Thus, Mantas Zakarka, the representative of the National Gambling and Gaming Business Association in Lithuania, warned about the possible negative consequences of the adopted law. According to Zakarka, the local gambling market will become less attractive for global gambling companies and service providers. Moreover, the new law could lead to the development of a 'black market' that will flourish without paying taxes to the state. Curiously, a similar ban on any kind of gambling advertising was introduced by the Italian government several years ago. In addition, Sweden is also considering introducing similar measures to protect its population from the negative effects of any form of gambling.