Stop showing advertisements of online betting platforms: Govt tells channels and websites
This is the second advisory from the government in this regard. Earlier, on June 13 this year, the I&B ministry had urged television channels and web portals to refrain from promoting offline or online betting/gambling through advertisements on the grounds that it poses a significant financial and socio-economic risk for consumers, especially children and youth.
FollowAs part of the ongoing crackdown against online betting platforms, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed private satellite channels, OTT platforms and websites to refrain from broadcasting advertisements of the same.
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In an advisory, the ministry said that betting and gambling are illegal activities in most parts of India. Citing the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 under the Consumer Protection Act-2019, the ministry said advertisements of betting platforms, online offshore betting and gambling platforms could not be shown on digital media or TV channels as they are illegal activities.
This is the second advisory from the government in this regard. Earlier, on June 13 this year, the I&B ministry had urged television channels and web portals to refrain from promoting offline or online betting/gambling through advertisements on the grounds that it poses a significant financial and socio-economic risk for consumers, especially children and youth.
The ministry noted that the online offshore betting platforms appeared to promote betting and gambling under the garb of news as surrogate advertising.
Showcasing evidence of advertisements of offshore betting platforms such as Fairplay, PariMatch, Betway, Wolf 777 and 1xBet, the ministry said that online betting platforms have been advertising themselves as professional sports blogs, sports news websites, etc. Under the garb of news, the online offshore betting platforms appear to be promoting surrogate advertising of betting and gambling.
While providing an indicative list of online betting platforms which are using news for surrogate advertising, the ministry also noted that the logos of the concerned news websites are strikingly similar to the betting platform. The ministry further noted that the online betting platforms and the corresponding news websites are also not registered with any legal authority under Indian laws.
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