Key points:
- The ban will come into effect in July next year
- There are some exceptions related to sports competitions, sponsorships and broadcasts
- A proposal has been backed related to a transitional period until the end of 2027
Gambling advertising is set to be banned in Lithuania.
A vote took place in the Lithuanian Parliament, which looked into the restriction of gambling advertising in the country. The amendments put forward were passed with 73 votes in favour and one abstention.
With this, gambling advertising will be banned in the country from next July, with exceptions in place for sports competitions and events, and sports sponsorships and broadcast of sports competitions, which have a transitional period until 1 January 2028.
A proposal has been backed which includes a transitional period until the end of 2027, allowing up to three sports betting ads of under 15 seconds each per hour on TV, radio and online between the hours of 6am and 6pm, which goes to up to two per hour between 6pm and midnight.
Regarding online, betting ads without a direct link to the operator's website will have 20% of advertising space from 6am and 6pm, which will go down to 10% advertising space until midnight.
The budget for next year has set aside €4m ($4.24m) to help media organisations deal with this period, as they will inevitably lose advertising revenue.
There has been a lot of talk recently regarding the limiting of gambling advertising in other countries too.
In Australia for example, experts are calling for government reforms to limit targeted advertising to vulnerable populations, after research indicated that alcohol and gambling companies target at-risk individuals with ads on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Assembly’s All-Party Group (APG) on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling has been urging the Westminster Government to take action on introducing stricter gambling advertising restrictions.
