Legal and regulatory responses to online gambling harms: a scoping review of evidence

Abstract

Objective: To synthesise original research on the distinct challenges of regulating the online sector, and the efficacy of public health legal interventions aimed at reducing online gambling harm. Background: Both legal and public health scholars increasingly view gambling as a public health concern. Gambling puts individuals at risk of a range of harms, including related to finances, relationships, mental health, physical health, employment/education, and criminal activity. Harmful gambling can extend beyond the realms of individual harm to affect others including wider society. Online gambling is growing in many countries—e.g. it accounts for 44% of gambling turnover in the UK—and it is seen as especially harmful compared to land-based gambling due to the accessibility, and fast-paced nature of the products available. In addition, there are distinct harms associated with the overlap between gaming and gambling, most prominently through the challenges that exist in the regulation of loot boxes. Legal and public health scholars recommend legal interventions to reduce the harms of gambling, including online gambling. Methods: Following a PICOST inclusion/exclusion criteria, we completed a comprehensive scoping review of scientific and legal data sources to ascertain the efficacy of legal interventions on reducing online gambling harms. A narrative synthesis of the included studies was completed. Results: We include 27 data sources which either described distinct challenges of regulating online gambling or evaluated the efficacy of laws and regulations. Current gambling harm reduction research is heavily focused on using an individual approach, rather than a systems approach. When a systems approach is taken, it often prioritises tackling unlicensed gambling and blocking mechanics, which require a comprehensive delivery strategy to be effective. Significant gaps exist in examining the effectiveness of interventions on subgroups of the population. Conclusions: Inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks have played a crucial role in the proliferation of online gambling harms; studies vary in their explanation for this inadequacy. There is an urgent need for more robust research on law, regulation, and online gambling harms to critically explore the implications of technology, ongoing innovation, and the intervention generated inequalities of regulating online gambling.