State-owned Swedish operator Svenska Spel has fully ceased its online casino advertising, a policy which will apply to all of its media channels.

The decision was taken following "intensive internal discussions" about how best to protect customers.

In a post on the company's website, CEO Patrik Hofbauer argued the casino vertical poses a far greater risk to consumers than any other form of gaming, using various statistics to back up his point.

As such, Svenska Spel will not advertise online casino games for the rest of 2019 and is encouraging fellow operators to follow suit.

Hofbauer said: "If you are serious about taking responsibility, then you should address the problems where the problems exist, even if it strikes the revenue in the short term.

"In the long term, this is the only sustainable one. It is also only when we can improve the industry's reputation.

"We would like more gaming companies to join a promotional stop for online casino. It would show that the gaming industry is taking consumer protection seriously."