The Association of Bulgarian Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABRO) sent to the media their position regarding the proposals submitted to the National Assembly for legal changes to ban the advertising of gambling games in the electronic media.
We publish the full text of their opinion, unedited:
“On behalf of the Association of Bulgarian Radio and Television Broadcasters ABRO, we would like to express an opinion and provide additional information in relation to the proposed changes with the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Gambling, in the part about the advertising of gambling games.
First, we share the proponents’ reasoning that advertising has a vital role to play in a well-functioning legal market, as it enables licensed gambling operators to market their services by providing informed choice and directing consumers to regulated, legal gambling services. We have repeatedly expressed the view that gambling advertising must be responsible and its regulation sustainable under clear terms and conditions.
Advertising must not target minors and minors and must contain a message of responsible behavior.
We do not share the understanding that the complete ban on advertising achieves the stated goals. The ban on lawfully informing consumers about legal gambling operators and their services will lead to a switch to illegal providers that do not comply with the rules of the ХХ and the rest of the applicable legislation and where there are no guarantees for the protection of minors and consumers in general. To date, more than 3,280 illegal gambling Internet sites have been published on the website of the National Revenue Agency, the latter being only the illegal gambling providers established by the National Revenue Agency. Many of these illegal gambling operators constantly change the domain through which they provide gambling services and redirect users to new access addresses.
European legislation on media freedom and Directive (EU) 2019/790 of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the digital single market include in their objectives and reasons ensuring the sustainability of the media industry, encouraging investment in media services that result in the availability of reliable information, free and pluralistic media services and ensuring the quality of journalism and citizens’ access to information. A ban on media advertising is a ban on the provision of a media service within the meaning of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The provision of advertising messages by the media ensures the financial sustainability of the media, the quality of media services and access to information. Any such intention to ban the provision of services and therefore ban revenue should be approached with caution in the highly competitive environment of online digital platforms in which our traditional media thrive. Depriving part of the media industry of advertising revenue will have a direct effect on the Bulgarian audience’s access to sports content and quality journalistic media content.
ABRO is an active participant in legislative initiatives and initiatives for self-regulation of gambling advertising. In October and November 2023, ABRO took part in a working group at the Ministry of Finance, which aimed to supplement the regulation of gambling advertising in Art. 10 of the Labor Code with measures and restrictions to achieve the goals of responsible advertising, protection of consumers and minors. The working group was represented by the MoF, the NRA, representatives of the people with experience in consumer protection and knowledge in this field, and the associations from the gambling industry. Within the framework of the working group, proposals were made for editing part 10 ХХ with additional restrictions regarding the content and positioning of the advertising of gambling games. At the end of December 2023, the Council of Ministers submitted a proposal to amend and supplement the 3 through the Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for 2024, without incorporating the agreed changes under Art. 10 ХХ. The latest amendments to the ХХ are in force from 1.01.2024
The same proposed changes in Art. 10 ХХ, ABRO submitted for discussion within the National Council for Self-Regulation of Advertising NSS – for the creation of additional self-regulatory rules in a special section to the Ethical Rules for Advertising and Commercial Communication of Gambling Games. Additional rules are under discussion within the NSS. The NSS rules allow for preliminary and subsequent control of advertising campaigns in the media. The decisions of the Ethics Commission of the NSS are binding for media service providers, video sharing platform providers and gambling operators, according to Art. 126 of the Labor Code and Art. 10, para. 6 of ХХ. The implementation of the norms is accompanied by property sanctions under the Criminal Code and Criminal Code.
In this context, it is important to note the progress that the gambling industry itself has achieved by signing the Memorandum for responsible advertising of gambling games in the Republic of Bulgaria. The memorandum is still in effect today.
In view of the above, we believe that the goals of the draft law can be achieved with a more detailed regulation of the content of advertising messages in Art. 10 of the 3X or through additional self-regulatory measures. We are ready to provide the prepared editions of Art. 10 ХХ within the working group at the Ministry of Finance.
We believe that it is imperative to comply with Art. 28 of the Law on Normative Acts (LA) and the reasons for the draft law to include the expected results of the implementation of the normative act, an analysis of compliance with the law of the European Union and the preliminary impact assessment.
Good European and world practice is when a proposal is made to amend a law that affects a person’s financial sphere, such as restricting the broadcasting of reyaam for the media, to discuss how necessary and proportionate the measure is and the expediency of the ban. At the very least, a sufficient horizon should be given to be able to assess the situation and possibly look for another source of income if an income ban applies. Such changes should be introduced at the beginning of a given financial year at the earliest, and even more predictably, if restrictions are introduced, they should be planned in stages so that at least the media can comply its business with reduced revenues.
Last but not least, the drafting of the draft law, according to the ZNA, should be in compliance with the principles of necessity, reasonableness, predictability, openness, coherence, proportionality and stability. (Art. 26 ZNA) and in compliance with the requirements and deadlines for conducting consultations and coordination with public organizations. The latter is a mandatory prerequisite for sustainable and quality rule-making activity and a predictable and stable economic environment.
We remain available to discuss the creation of a well-thought-out and balanced Gambling Act amendment bill.”
Tags: ABRO gambling advertising ban push users illegal providers
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