The government does not rule out banning this practice, criticized by addiction associations.
Some have a few tens of thousands of subscribers, others nearly 300,000. Over the past few weeks, influencers have been running Instagram gambling ads to their many followers, reports franceinfo. With, each time, the same advertiser: the Française des jeux (FDJ).
Among the advertisements broadcast by influencers, some concerned a communication operation organized on the occasion of a special day promising to make 100 Europeans millionaires, at the beginning of February. Others tried to encourage Internet users to play the EuroMillions lottery, or for a jackpot dedicated to Friday January 13th.
Young people at risk of addiction
With Franceinfo, the association Addictions France – which also fights against Instagram advertisements for alcohol – regrets this strategy of the FDJ, a company owned by the French state.
“Today, 95% of minors are on social networks. 70% of bettors are under 34. It is also young people who are most at risk of addiction” alerts the association to Franceinfo, regretting that such campaigns are authorized by law.
With Tech&Co, the FDJ acknowledges the existence of these partnerships, while ensuring that influencers can only be selected for the (paid) distribution of such advertisements if their account displays less than 16% of subscribers who are under 18 years old. . However, the FDJ does not specify how this data is collected and verified.
Still with Tech&Co, the FDJ specifies that other advertising campaigns are broadcast on social networks, still through influencers, to warn Internet users against gambling addiction. However, the company did not specify the proportion of the sums invested to encourage gambling and the amounts dedicated to prevention campaigns.
Through a bill, supported by a public consultation led by Bercy, the government could also legislate on the issue, by purely and simply banning advertisements for gambling broadcast by influencers.
