‘We all have a duty to keep young people safe’
Protecting children and the vulnerable from gamblingrelated harm has, and always will be, at the heart of what we do. And this is why we have been looking so closely at skins gambling and using our enforcement powers to protect British consumers.
The law sets a line between what is and is not gambling.
As the regulator we patrol that line and where an activity crosses it and presents a risk to people, especially to children, we have and will take action.
In March we prosecuted two men who stepped over that line by offering illegal gambling parasitic upon the popular FIFA computer game.
It was a complicated case in which the website allowed customers to buy virtual currency called FUT coins. Customers could then use those FUT coins to gamble. They could convert these into FIFA coins, which could in turn be sold for real money in an unauthorised secondary market in which one of the owners also had an interest.
But here’s the really simplistic, and alarming, bit: it allowed children to gamble.
The district judge described the offending as “very grave”.
He concluded that children had been gambling on the site but that it was impossible to know how many had done so and what the effect of the criminality has been; that, he said, was the “real mischief”.
Having been shown footage of a 12-year-old boy gambling on the website, the judge described what he had seen as “horrific”, adding that the video had “hit home to me how serious this is”. That is why we were right to bring the prosecution.
The latest figures on skins gambling are, to say the least, concerning.
Some 11 per cent of 11-16 year-olds claimed to have personally bet at some time with in-game items (skins). That equates to around 350,000 children across the UK. Not all of this will necessarily involve them in illegal gambling.
There are many variables of skins gambling and in March 2017 we published a position paper that outlined what is gambling under the Gambling Act 2005 and where we can take enforcement action.
However, many parents are not concerned whether an activity there child is undertaking meets a legal definition of ‘gambling’.
Their main worry is whether there is a product out there that could present a risk to their children.
We share that concern. There is clear growth in examples where the line between video gaming and gambling is becoming increasingly blurred.
Where it does meet the definition of gambling it is our job to ensure that children are protected and we have
‘Some 11 per cent of 11-16 year-olds claimed to have personally bet at some time with in-game items (skins)’
lots of rules in place – like imposing age verification requirements – to do just that.
Where a product does not meet that test to be classed as gambling but could potentially still be causing harm to children, parents will undoubtedly expect proper protections to be put in place by those that are creating, selling and regulating those products.
By raising the public’s awareness of these important issues we hope that the Gambling Commission is also helping to empower parents to talk to their children about the risks they face.
We have a long track record in working to keep children safe and we are keen to share our experiences and expertise with others that have a similar responsibility.
Whether gambling or not, this is a child-protection issue – and we all have a responsibility to work together to keep children and young people safe.
Tim Miller is the executive director of the Gambling Commission