Although the Government of the City of Buenos Aires had already started to take some measures to fight adolescent and child gambling, as reported by Yogonet, now the administration of Jorge Macri has decided to tighten its measures even more.
As the new main measure, the decision to close the registration of new licenses for gambling operators, suspending all agreements with potential operators, was announced. In addition, plans were announced that will include educational, health, and legislative initiatives.
Among the measures implemented is the blocking of access to legal and illegal gambling websites from the wifi network of all schools in the city, as well as free wifi in public spaces. In addition, workshops for adolescents and their families were launched in schools, and a prevention network will be set up in Buenos Aires clubs.
The Álvarez Hospital in the Argentine capital will also have a group device specialized in gambling addiction among children, dedicated to assisting minors with this possible diagnosis, as well as their families. Help can also be requested through the 108 and 147 hotlines.
At the parliamentary level, it was announced that officials will seek to unify the 17 bills presented in the Buenos Aires Legislature on this issue to generate a single law that contemplates preventive, regulatory, and intervention measures.
[EN VIVO] El jefe de Gobierno Jorge Macri anuncia medidas para frenar la ludopatía infantil: https://t.co/mWsLAoZ5pS pic.twitter.com/ZRWkmShwse
— Buenos Aires Ciudad (@gcba) June 26, 2024
In a press conference, the head of the City Government, Jorge Macri, announced: “We are closing the registry of gambling licenses in the city and we are going to review the 11 in force.” A fundamental part of that review will consist of the process of age verification of gamblers in the sites’ registry.
“For a kid to gamble and have access to a legal or illegal gambling platform is a crime and we will always fight crime. We will not allow casinos to be in our children’s pockets. This is a new addiction that hits us, which requires a comprehensive, joint approach, and today we are taking a first step in this direction and being very firm,” concluded the head of government.
The authorities’ concern stems from data indicating that almost 80% of bets are placed on illegal sites, which do not have proper verification processes and allow minors to participate.
ESTAMOS COMBATIENDO LA LUDOPATÍA INFANTIL
La ludopatía infantil es una problemática muy grave que requiere de un abordaje integral y conjunto entre Gobierno, escuelas, ONGs, clubes y familias. Empieza como una distracción o diversión y se transforma en un impulso obsesivo muy… pic.twitter.com/gPcyBzQ9R5
— Jorge Macri (@jorgemacri) June 26, 2024
Through the Argentine State Lottery Association (ALEA), the City Government closed several agreements with organizations and companies such as Meta, NIC.AR, the National Communications Entity (Enacom), Mercado Libre and Rapipago. This allows for greater action to eliminate and block content that promotes illegal gambling, whether in social networks, advertisements, publications in Mercado Libre, or websites.
The President of the Lottery of the City of Buenos Aires (Lotba), Jesús Acevedo, commented: “We do research. When some influencers are promoting illegal sites what we can do is send them letters because we do not know whether they are aware that they are incurring a crime. Additionally, we denounce the sites criminally. It is quite difficult to prove it. According to Enacom’s regulations, they cannot be blocked in the whole country because the claim is from only one jurisdiction. The idea is to speed it up so that it is not so complicated, but one is always behind the technology.”
Macri announced that they will use Lotba’s budget for a campaign to raise awareness about gambling. “The fact that gambling is bad is going to be very clear and assertive,” he said.