The Church of England has warned that a social media advertising “loophole” could leave children exposed to “aggressive” gambling adverts.
Rt Revd Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, said a ruling this week by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), set a concerning “precedent” for promotions on social media.
The watchdog’s ruling dismissed complaints about poker adverts on a popular YouTube channel, as the owner supplied analytics from the site showing that most of his audience were over 18.
However, the Bishop warned that the analytics were an “incredibly dubious metric” as YouTube, which has a minimum age of 13, does not have any age verification and many viewers watch it without signing into an account.’
📱The Church of England has warned that a social media advertising “loophole” could leave children exposed to “aggressive” gambling adverts https://t.co/VQZa6Qyoyw
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 8, 2022