Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the prevalence of gambling advertising that is not obviously identifiable as advertising.

The Government is clear that wherever gambling advertising appears, it must be socially responsible. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to further raise standards to ensure that gambling advertising is appropriate, responsible, and does not exacerbate harm.

There are a number of robust measures in place to regulate advertising, designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm. All gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of the Government. These codes apply to all advertising, including content marketing, but does not apply to editorial content, which is not deemed to be selling a product or service. The Government monitors the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to aid our assessment of the impact of gambling advertising at a national level.

Additionally, advertising code changes implemented from 1 September 2025 have increased the ASA’s scope, enabling the ASA to also regulate advertising by overseas gambling operators using online ads to target UK consumers.