UKGC partners Facebook to reduce users’ exposure to gambling ads
29th September 2020 8:16 am GMT | Last updated: 29th September 2020
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has teamed up with Facebook to produce a new consumer guide aimed at limiting the number of gambling-related adverts users see on the social media network.
The guidance explains the different ways in which Facebook’s safety tools and settings can be adjusted within an individual account to control what a user can and can’t see in their Newsfeed.
This includes hiding ads by giving users control over which ads they see to ensure they are relevant, utilising the ‘Why am I seeing this ad?’ feature to hide all ads from a specific advertiser.
An ad preferences tool allows users to review advertisers they have recently seen ads from, as well as choosing to see fewer ads about a number of pre-determined topics, while users can also control how their data is used to show ads on and off Facebook, including whether they can be targeted based on certain attributes listed in their profile.
“Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling is at the heart of what we do, which is why I challenged the industry to look at how they can make better use of technology to prevent gambling-related content and adverts being seen by those individuals,” said UKGC chief executive Neil McArthur.
“Partnering with Facebook to produce this guidance is a welcome step for us in order to offer consumers clear, practical advice, and I hope that this will help them limit the gambling-related content they see when using the platform.”
Facebook vice president of global gaming Rick Kelley added: “Facebook is committed to supporting a safe and transparent environment for people to control their experiences on our platform. We’re delighted that our partnership with the Gambling Commission will help operators to implement advertising campaigns responsibly, while helping to protect the people who use our services.”
In 2019, UKGC also partnered with Twitter to launch a similar guidance for users of the blogging platform.