Govt issues another advisory against online betting, gambling ads

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Thursday advised media houses, media platforms and online advertising intermediaries to refrain from carrying advertisement/promotional material of betting platforms.

In an advisory issued today, the Ministry has taken strong exception to the recent incidents of publishing of betting advertisements and promotional material in mainstream English and Hindi newspapers. websites, The advisory has been issued for all media formats including newspapers, television channels and online news publishers and specific examples have been shown where such advertisements have appeared in the media in the recent past.

The ministry has also objected to a specific betting platform encouraging viewers to watch a sports league on its website, which prima facie appears to be in violation of the Copyright Act, 1957.

Emphasizing the legal obligation as well as the moral duty of the media, the advisory refers to the provisions of the Press Council’s norms of journalistic conduct, which inter alia state that “newspapers shall not publish such advertisement contain anything illegal or illegal…………”, and further added that “newspapers and periodicals in view of the responsibility of the editor for all material including advertisements under section 7 Advertising inputs should be examined from ethical as well as legal angles.” of the PRB Act, 1867. Revenue generation alone cannot and should not be the sole aim of the press, which is a huge public responsibility.

The ministry had earlier issued advisories in the months of June and October 2022 stating that betting and gambling are illegal, and therefore direct or surrogate advertising of such activities is prohibited under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Press Council Act 1978, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 and other relevant statutes.