YouTube’s New Policy on Online Gambling Promotion

YouTube has announced plans to limit the promotion of online gambling sites, which have gained popularity in recent years. The new guidelines prohibit creators from verbally promoting unauthorized gambling services and displaying their logos or links in videos. According to the company, “We believe these changes are necessary to protect our community, especially younger viewers,” as stated in a blog post.

The platform will only permit references to online gambling sites that “meet local requirements,” leaving room for some flexibility. However, it will exclude videos showing online sports betting or in-person gambling, allowing sponsorships like ESPN BET to remain unaffected. The primary target of this policy appears to be online slot machine websites. All gambling-related content will be age-restricted to users 18 and older and inaccessible to logged-out visitors. YouTube will utilize AI to estimate users’ ages proactively.

The popularity of online sports betting has surged since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that lifted the federal ban on state authorization of sports betting. Companies like Disney have launched their own online betting products, generating significant revenue. While some argue that betting increases viewer engagement, critics claim it has a negative impact. The emotional stakes can run high when money is involved, leading to horror stories of individuals becoming addicted to online sports betting and accumulating significant debt in an attempt to recover losses, as reported in this article.

Websites like Stake, offering online slot machines, operate in a gray area, exploiting state-level laws regarding sweepstakes to bypass gambling laws. However, Stake is not available nationwide due to strict state laws preventing such workarounds.

Some argue that gambling itself is not inherently bad, but the shift from in-person to online gambling has made it too accessible. The promotion of online gambling by celebrities like Drake, who has been paid to endorse Stake, has raised concerns. The stock trading app Robinhood briefly introduced sports betting “contracts” earlier this year but paused the rollout after the CFTC raised concerns about the product’s legitimacy, as reported.

Platforms like Twitch already restrict online gambling promotion, and X has similar restrictions in place. However, it is common to see viral images on X watermarked with the Stake logo, seemingly a way to circumvent X’s restrictions and promote the platform. In 2022, Stake’s founders launched Kick, a livestreaming platform that allows the promotion of online gambling, as a competitor to Twitch.