YouTube has toughened its guidelines on content related to gambling, prohibiting the promotion of “unapproved” websites.
Announced on Tuesday (4 March), the increased restrictions come as part of a wider crackdown from YouTube, with creators no longer being allowed to direct users to unapproved gambling websites through links, images, text, logos or verbal references.
The tighter restrictions could be set to a myriad of marketing approaches, from streamers to podcasts, which have previously been sponsored by operators.
According to YouTube, unapproved gambling sites refer to those that don’t meet local requirements and haven’t been reviewed by YouTube or parent company Google.
First reported by CNN, YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle also confirmed that the video-sharing site will also “begin age-restricting content that promotes online casinos”.
This means that users under 18 or those not logged in to the site will no longer be able to view content that depicts or promotes online betting sites.
“We know this update may impact creators who focus on online gambling content like casino games and applications, but we believe these changes are a necessary step in protecting our community, especially younger viewers,” YouTube said in the announcement.
Both updates are set to come into force on March 19th.
Rise of the slot streamer
As the popularity of sharing gambling content continues to rise, platforms have been forced to review their guidelines.
In 2022, Twitch announced a ban on the streaming of gambling sites not licensed in the US or other jurisdictions that “provide sufficient consumer protection”.
More recently, Kick strengthened its guidelines regarding KYC and ID verification, mandating that gambling content can only be streamed from gambling sites that have utilised ID to verify the KYC of their viewers.
This action followed a partnership between Kick and the Internet Watch Forum, which is clamping down on “harmful and exploitative content”.
Notably, streamers began to migrate to Kick in response to Twitch’s change in guidelines, and the latest update was met with disappointment from some users.
Streamer Xposed posted on X: “The sole purpose to create kick was for a place for gamblers to have the freedom to stream wherever they want and have a home to stream at. Now these guys at Stake are losing streamers by the day and were forced to provide an extra level of KYC check to the website.”
“All this shows is CONTROL over their website entirely and to make everybody come back to Stake and promote only their product.”
