The company behind thousands of the UK’s fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) is offering gambling-style apps on Facebook without age checks, prompting allegations that children are being exposed to the risk of addiction. Speaking to the Guardian, Watson urged Facebook to investigate why the games were on its platform and to consider removing them. The industry regulator found that children who played social games were more likely to bet money on adult gambling products. Scientific Games also makes online gambling software for UK firms including William Hill, Betfred and Paddy Power Betfair. “What games like these do is behaviourally and socially condition children from an early age to be into gambling,” he said.

Source: The Guardian December 27, 2017 19:00 UTC