MIB asks media bodies to refrain from direct & indirect betting ads

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recently advised all stakeholders, including media entities, online advertisement intermediaries and social media platforms, to immediately refrain from showing advertisements or promotional content on betting/gambling in any form.

It has added that failure to adhere to this advisory may invite appropriate action from the government under various statutes.

According to the ministry, “The recent Central Government action against a network of agents who had collected substantial money from users of gambling apps that had subsequently funnelled the funds out of India to reiterate that advertisements of gambling or betting platforms pose significant financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially youth and children. It has further added that this mechanism has linkages to money laundering networks, thereby threatening the financial security of the country.”

The Ministry has stated in the advisory that along with these illegalities, it is also highly likely that black money is used to pay for such advertisements. To that end, the Ministry has noted that certain media entities, including advertisement intermediaries and social media platforms, have been allowing direct and indirect advertisements of betting and gambling platforms during major sporting events, including cricket tournaments.  Further, the Ministry has observed that there is a tendency to spike promotion of such betting and gambling platforms during a major sporting event, especially cricket.

MIB has issued advisories to warn media platforms against publicising betting/gambling platforms. The online advertisement intermediaries have also been advised not to target such advertisements towards the Indian audience. 

Advisories in the past have stated that betting and gambling is an illegal activity and hence advertisements or promotion of such activities directly or indirectly on any of the media platforms falls foul of the various statutes, including under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Press Council Act 1978, etc.