The ease of making bets and gambling online not only affects adults, but also children and adolescents who previously would have been barred from entering physical casinos. — dpa
Accessible internet betting and casino apps on phones are contributing to a surge in problem gambling and potential addiction among hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
This is as the industry is now said to be on track to be worth US$700 billion (RM3,038 billion) by 2028.
“Gambling harms are far more substantial than previously understood, exacerbated by rapid global expansion and digital transformation of the gambling industry,” say the members of a commission on gambling set up by The Lancet, a United Kingdom-based medical publisher.
Some of the effects of gambling addiction are well known, such as the impact on finances, employment, relationships and mental well-being.
But there are spillover effects on physical health that are sometimes overlooked, according to the commission.
They estimate that the number of people with gambling disorder is 80 million globally and the number of those suffering from at least one ill-effect of gambling is over 400 million.
“Anyone with a mobile phone now has access to what is essentially a casino in their pocket, 24 hours a day,” said the commission’s co-chair and University of Glasgow gambling research specialist Dr Heather Wardle.
She accuses providers of deploying “highly sophisticated marketing and technology” and “design mechanics to encourage repeated and longer engagement”.
“Persuasive design techniques and interfaces are used to shape consumer behaviour and to maximise user engagement,” the commission said.
They pointed to data-driven algorithms that, they said, “are used to target the promotion of more attractive content to specific users.”
Phones and apps mean easy access to popular sports betting and online slot machines, including for children who would, in the past, have been too young to access bricks-and-mortar bookies or casinos.
“Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the allure of easy money and the game-like designs of online gambling,” said addiction specialist and Universitas Indonesia Psychiatry Department head Dr Kristiana Siste. – dpa
