MP's push to limit online gambling by banning ads, credit card payments
The SP and ChristenUnie believe that the government is not intervening quickly enough in the online gambling market and are, therefore, doing so themselves with a bill. They want to limit online gambling and protect young people from addiction by banning gambling ads and not allowing people to gamble on their credit cards, NOS reports.
Recently published research showed that there’s been a rise in gambling addiction among young people, in particular, since the Netherlands legalized online gambling in 2021. “That evaluation provides shocking findings, the health of young people is at stake,” ChristenUnie leader Mirjam Bikker told NOS. “People have been naive and have not realized that you always have that slot machine, with your phone, in your pocket.”
The parties’ main goal with their bill is quick intervention. “We had called for not waiting for the evaluation,” SP MP Michiel van Nispen told the broadcaster. “Now [the evaluation] is there and things are still being postponed.”
In addition to banning online gambling ads and making it impossible to pay with a credit card, the parties also want to oblige gambling companies to pay more money for addiction prevention.
ChristenUnie and SP would have preferred to ban online gambling completely again, as the CDA and SGP previously proposed, but they expect their less far-reaching measures will have a better chance of winning majority support in parliament.
