Norwegian regulator blocks YouTube egaming ads
Gaming Board submits 122 examples of ads from unlicensed operators aimed at Norwegian residents
Norway’s gambling regulator has moved to end unlicensed egaming advertising aimed at Norwegian residents on YouTube after lodging a successful complaint with the online video site.
The country’s Gaming Board submitted 122 examples of ads from foreign gaming firms, many of which were in Norwegian, which it claimed were breaking the law.
YouTube agreed with its opinion that the adverts violated national laws, the Gaming Board said.
“We know from before that YouTube requires that content that is posted on their website directed by national laws,” said Steinar Mjøs, an advisor to the regulator said.
“We are therefore satisfied that YouTube has taken the complaint into consideration and blocked videos that are in violation of the lottery law and gambling law.”
The move comes a month after the new Norwegian government announced plans to liberalise the country’s gambling industry and allow foreign operators into the market in an attempt to increase tax revenue from the sector.
Currently gambling and horseracing are operated exclusively by Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto respectively.
However a centre-right coalition government was formed in October between the Conservative Party and Progress Party on a platform promising liberalisation through lower taxes and cutting back on excessive regulation.
In a document outlining its political agenda, the coalition declared offline poker tournaments with limited stakes would become legal for the first time and that it would study a private model for the country’s gambling industry.