ACMA issues warning to 10 Play for breach of gambling advertising rules

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced that it has issued a formal warning to Network Ten after it found its streaming service 10 Play breached gambling advertising rules by presenting ads outside allowed times during two live-streamed sports events.

The ACMA investigated 10 Play following complaints from a viewer relating to live streams on 14 October 2023 of the A-League Women's Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets match and a Socceroos friendly match against England.

Gambling advertisements must not be shown by online content providers during live sporting events between 5:00 AM and 8:30 PM, including in the five minutes before and after the event, ACMA noted. The international match was shown early in the morning of 14th October, while the Women’s A-League match was live-streamed that afternoon when restrictions applied.

Authority Member Carolyn Lidgerwood said Network Ten must do better to ensure its gambling advertising placements comply with legal requirements.

“These rules are in place to minimize potential harm caused by gambling promotional content. Streaming services are expected to have systems in place to provide their ads in line with the law,” Lidgerwood said. “This is the first time Ten has breached the rules around gambling advertising in live sports and it has co-operated with us throughout our investigation.”

Ten advised the breach was due to an error in a manual coding process and it has now upgraded its processes to provide more automation around the scheduling of gambling ads. The ACMA said that it may undertake further enforcement action if Ten again breaches the gambling ad rules for online content providers.

In recent related news, the ACMA requested that Australian internet service providers (ISPs) block four more illegal gambling and affiliate marketing websites after investigations found these services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The latest sites blocked include Casino Australia Online, Pokies.bet, Pokiesman and Smart Pokies.