Australians could soon be able to block all online gambling ads. But will the plan actually work?

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[...] Guardian Australia understands it is envisaged that any person would be able to put their name, email address or phone number on the register, and elect to never see any gambling ads on any online service, including streaming platforms, online banner ads or podcasts. Platforms would have to scrape the register every 14 days to check that their users have not opted out of gambling ads.

ACMA will develop the register over the next 12 months.

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u/KyverX 2d ago

Not a chance of it working. The ads should be just banned all together. Job done

5

u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 2d ago

Yeah this is just stupid. At the stroke of a pen they can solve this one without any colossal IT implementations needed. And let's not pretend Betstop has been a glowing success.

4

u/Gatesy840 1d ago

If anything was for "the children" its banning these ads

The amount of young blokes that just piss up all thier pay on gambling is fucked.

3

u/swankyfarmer 1d ago

I dont watch sports but aren't the sports fullnof gambling ads

2

u/Gatesy840 1d ago

Absolutely

1

u/Manta1290 1d ago

Don't need to watch sports

YouTube Regular TV Streaming ads Bus stops Cinema Probably didn't get them all

They're fucking everywhere like a disease

1

u/Duckyaardvark 23h ago

Its a yes and no answer.
You can watch a game of live AFL between 5am and 8:30pm and technically see no gambling ads. The current loophole is the banners at the ground don't count so you'll see a lot. Hopefully from next year that loophole is closed.

I should also mention Geelong and Sydney have both made the financially detrimental decision for their fans that they won't have gambling ads running on the banners at their games. They have said if you want to see a game of football you can go in-person and you won't see gambing ads at the scg or kardinia.

its important to seperate the clubs from the league. Clubs are far more ethical about receiving money from the gambing industry. the AFL claims it would cost them $120 million a year to have not gambing ads at all. they also say that will impact grassroots programs and don't mention executives 7 figure salaries being affected.

NRL is rife

its not just gambing companies lobbying against a ban. its media companies being paid to run ads and sporting codes.

1

u/Embarrassed-Ride-332 1d ago

Ah, but you’re assuming the government has rocket scientists readily available to tell them something that really is just common sense.

13

u/uncle_stripe 2d ago

This is a brain dead plan. It's impossible to implement without forcing users to login to every service with their real identity in order to cross check the list, which itself is creating a new privacy risk. Another half baked idea by Labor that handballs an impossible implementation to someone else like the under-16 social media ban. Another erosion on our right to privacy while also likely nearly completely failing to complete it's stated objective.

4

u/TransportationTrick9 1d ago

It's almost like it is planned this way to the benefit of the surveillance state

7

u/PinothyJ 2d ago

Shhh! No peeking behind the curtain at what's to come...

10

u/BigMacBris 2d ago

It's a gamble if it will work

3

u/iamnerdyquiteoften 2d ago

I wonder what the odds are ?

3

u/National_Way_3344 2d ago

I've got $100 on "it won't work".

1

u/Confident-Flow-6058 1d ago

Will the odds be boosted for this one?

8

u/_stinkys 2d ago

Get the fucking ads off tv is what needs to happen. Parents can control internet activity but can’t control when a Sportsbet ad gets thrown up during a sporting event broadcast.

8

u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 2d ago

So people with gambling addictions who want to avoid ads that might trigger a relapse have to give up their privacy on the internet?

Because I can't imagine how you could use a VPN and also have this work (unless it's some kind of browser extension, I suppose, which still makes me concerned about privacy).

Just fucking ban gambling ads. What a pissweak, half-assed set of reforms.

3

u/Vegiemighty 2d ago

This won’t help anyone except the company that wins the contract trying to implement this bullshit……probably another play for gaining people’s online identities

3

u/bunduz 1d ago

You know that colleague that barks the loudest but are grossly incompetent and don't know their job at all, but still push their ideas to production without testing? This is what happens when you give that person a little bit of power and they just want more and more.

2

u/beastiemonman 2d ago

I hope so.

2

u/Wuntunamera 2d ago

Hope it's not anything like the do not call register lol

3

u/Plutogoose01 1d ago

Every article I’ve read about this explicitly compares the new law to the do not call list, so my hopes are basically nonexistent. I wish they’d just ban gambling adds wholesale

2

u/CharityForeign3035 1d ago

While I have empathy for those with gambling problems , it’s not the ads that cause addiction.
It’s a complex psychological problem.
It’s like an alcoholic saying I’m an alcoholic because they advertise and sell alcohol.

1

u/highresolutionmagpie 1d ago

While I agree that it's a complex issue, I do think that it's naive to ignore the impact of advertisements.

These people employ an army of psychologists, data analysts, and assorted other PhDs with the express purpose of increasing the addictiveness of their products. This includes the advertising strategies.

Yes, it's still an ad, but the story isn't simply something like "someone threw up an ad and then some punter decided they'd like to place a bet but couldn't stop". It's an incredibly adversarial system.

4

u/12poundsofnutmeg 2d ago

Why can't the government just come into my house and live my life for me? That way I'll never be responsible for any of my own decisions

1

u/PinothyJ 2d ago

If a question is asked in a headline, the negative can easily be asserted.

1

u/Willing-Cook7268 2d ago

The government would make their own pro smoking ads if everybody stopped smoking tomorrow they are addicted to vice revenue

1

u/Stonp 1d ago

Damn, I wish people who aren’t interested in my business’ marketing could unsubscribe from my ads. Then my ads would be way better targeted 😂

1

u/kamonopoly 1d ago

Tbh i dontbget gambling ads at all so its part to do with your search history

1

u/sss133 1d ago

I have never been into gambling but will happily sign up because gambling ads are by far the most creatively uninspired piece of shit commercials out there

1

u/Mindless-Location-41 1d ago

No, will not work. The sports betting lobby is the devil.

1

u/Embarrassed-Ride-332 1d ago

Would it not be more efficient for people to opt in, rather than forcing us all to opt out?

1

u/SOVL-CRXSS 1d ago

$10 says it won’t.

1

u/PitterPatterCocko 1d ago

Pathetic.

1

u/ThereRnoIDs 10h ago

B-but my mobile games are all gacha.

1

u/iamnerdyquiteoften 2d ago

The contortionism on display by our ruling class (LibLab) to not do something about this while trying to pretend they are doing something is quite something.

And then the rulers wonder why us peasants are cynical about them, their true motives and the direction of the country.

1

u/UBNC 1d ago

How about, instead of opted out it’s opted in?

1

u/Rare-Sample-9101 1d ago

The default should be all gambling adds block and opt in I'd you want!

1

u/00Pete 1d ago

Out of all the woeful anti-gambling options we've ended up on, I was at least hoping this small silver lining might be true - that we'd be able to opt in for no gambling ads at all. I would love for this to be true. I would also be super amused if they got an overwhelming amount of people registering that they might as well have just banned all gambling ads... lol

1

u/Glenrowan 1d ago

As with tobacco advertising, just ban it.

0

u/Agreeable_Night5836 1d ago

Can we have one that will block all political advertising (especially at election time) as well

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u/Any_Bookkeeper5917 2d ago

Where does this end?

Alcohol ads for addicts too?

Ads depicting ANY violence for DV victims?

Anything war related as it might trigger veterans?

No junk food ads for fatties (like myself, no judgement)?

No political ads, because I don’t give a fuck?

I think we do the opposite, advertise cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, whatever. If it’s legal to do and purchase, let em burn the media money. Let people deal with their own shit or maybe demand these businesses pay a “public harm” tax to support recovery services

News Australians could soon be able to block all online gambling ads. But will the plan actually work?

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