The House of Lords will debate reducing gambling harm among young people on July 23, with a House of Lords Library briefing published on Monday laying out how influencer and social media promotion has become a central concern in that debate, alongside broadcast advertising and sports sponsorship.
Gambling Commission survey data cited in the briefing found that 16% of 11 to 17-year-olds reported having seen influencers advertise gambling-related content to them, a figure representing 31% of the young people in the survey who had encountered any gambling content. Young people were also more likely to see gambling ads online than offline, with 49% reporting weekly exposure via social media and 47% via apps.
Separate research by Social Finance, GamCare and Ygam, also referenced in the briefing, found that children and young people are “regularly and often passively exposed” to gambling-related influencer content on platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Twitch, and that those who follow gambling influencers are more likely to engage in high-risk gambling behavior. The study recommended tighter guidance on the labelling and placement of gambling-related influencer content, along with measures addressing algorithmic amplification.
Those findings have fed directly into policy proposals. A joint April 2026 report from the Gambling Reform All-Party Parliamentary Group and Peers for Gambling Reform called for strong restrictions on content marketing and influencer-led gambling promotion, arguing such advertising is “often indistinguishable” from organic content. GambleAware, the charity that funded gambling harm research before closing operations in March 2026 following the introduction of a statutory industry levy, made a related argument in its own submissions: that “the blurring of paid advertising with wider marketing content, such as content marketing and Influencer Marketing, makes it difficult for children to recognise what is advertising and what is independent content.”
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) issued guidance in October 2025 clarifying how social media content factors into whether gambling advertising has “strong appeal” to under-18s. In June 2026, CAP and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) followed with an enforcement notice directing gambling businesses to review their social media output and remove or amend ads likely to appeal to minors. The ASA said it would monitor compliance through its Active Ad Monitoring System and partnerships with social media platforms.
The UK proposals remain calls for reform rather than settled law. Australia has already moved further: legislation introduced there on July 3 bars gambling operators from paying any influencer, podcaster or sports figure to promote wagering content, regardless of follower count. “It doesn’t matter how many followers they have or which platform they use; under this law, a gambling company cannot enter into an arrangement with an influencer to promote gambling to their followers,” Australian Communications and Sport Minister Anika Wells said of the bill, which is now before an eight-week Senate inquiry.
The UK government’s current legislative activity is narrower in scope. A consultation launched July 15 targets advertising and sponsorship arrangements involving unlicensed gambling operators specifically, rather than Influencer Marketing broadly, and the government has said it retains confidence in the existing Gambling Commission and Advertising Standards Authority framework. Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously called for gambling sponsorship in sport to be “relegated to the history books,” though that position has not translated into the government’s present proposals.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
The House of Lords will debate reducing gambling harm among young people on July 23, with a House of Lords Library briefing published on Monday laying out how influencer and social media promotion has become a central concern in that debate, alongside broadcast advertising and sports sponsorship.
Gambling Commission survey data cited in the briefing found that 16% of 11 to 17-year-olds reported having seen influencers advertise gambling-related content to them, a figure representing 31% of the young people in the survey who had encountered any gambling content. Young people were also more likely to see gambling ads online than offline, with 49% reporting weekly exposure via social media and 47% via apps.
Separate research by Social Finance, GamCare and Ygam, also referenced in the briefing, found that children and young people are “regularly and often passively exposed” to gambling-related influencer content on platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Twitch, and that those who follow gambling influencers are more likely to engage in high-risk gambling behavior. The study recommended tighter guidance on the labelling and placement of gambling-related influencer content, along with measures addressing algorithmic amplification.
Those findings have fed directly into policy proposals. A joint April 2026 report from the Gambling Reform All-Party Parliamentary Group and Peers for Gambling Reform called for strong restrictions on content marketing and influencer-led gambling promotion, arguing such advertising is “often indistinguishable” from organic content. GambleAware, the charity that funded gambling harm research before closing operations in March 2026 following the introduction of a statutory industry levy, made a related argument in its own submissions: that “the blurring of paid advertising with wider marketing content, such as content marketing and Influencer Marketing, makes it difficult for children to recognise what is advertising and what is independent content.”
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) issued guidance in October 2025 clarifying how social media content factors into whether gambling advertising has “strong appeal” to under-18s. In June 2026, CAP and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) followed with an enforcement notice directing gambling businesses to review their social media output and remove or amend ads likely to appeal to minors. The ASA said it would monitor compliance through its Active Ad Monitoring System and partnerships with social media platforms.
The UK proposals remain calls for reform rather than settled law. Australia has already moved further: legislation introduced there on July 3 bars gambling operators from paying any influencer, podcaster or sports figure to promote wagering content, regardless of follower count. “It doesn’t matter how many followers they have or which platform they use; under this law, a gambling company cannot enter into an arrangement with an influencer to promote gambling to their followers,” Australian Communications and Sport Minister Anika Wells said of the bill, which is now before an eight-week Senate inquiry.
The UK government’s current legislative activity is narrower in scope. A consultation launched July 15 targets advertising and sponsorship arrangements involving unlicensed gambling operators specifically, rather than Influencer Marketing broadly, and the government has said it retains confidence in the existing Gambling Commission and Advertising Standards Authority framework. Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously called for gambling sponsorship in sport to be “relegated to the history books,” though that position has not translated into the government’s present proposals.
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