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Understanding gambling through social media in Great Britain

Report 9th Jan 2025

Social media has become a platform for novel gambling and gambling-like products to emerge, potentially posing risk to consumers. Many of these products and promotions are linked to unregulated gambling – gambling facilitated by an operator or person who would require a licence to legally operate within Great Britain (GB), but does not have one. Additionally, access to gambling-like products through social media – products that exhibit similar features, but are not considered gambling for the purpose of regulation – might be less restricted than to regulated gambling.

This report presents our research findings on gambling through social media. We interviewed 15 individuals who had gambled this way to understand their motivations and to explore their experiences. 

Findings

Based on what we learned from participants, we developed three personas that demonstrate typical motivations and experiences:

  • The Idle Scroller gambles on social media to fill time. They click on gambling ads or try integrated games suggested by the social media platform they are scrolling through, rather than actively looking for games.
  • The Gamblepreneur views gambling as a way to make money and test their abilities. They gamble through social media to get better odds or to try innovative products, such as gambling using cryptocurrencies. 
  • The Eyes on the Prize persona is motivated to gamble based on the type of prize, not necessarily its value. They enter prize draws, raffles and tombolas if the prize appeals to them. 

All three user personas are motivated to explore gambling on social media by curiosity and seeking a sense of community. 

Conclusions and recommendations

Our research demonstrates that social media has heightened exposure to both regulated and unregulated gambling, as well as gambling-like products. Compared to traditional gambling platforms and venues, social media often offers weaker consumer protections, increasing the risk of gambling-related harm, fraud, and data misuse for its users. To address these risks we propose that:

  • Social media platforms take action to reduce the exposure to gambling content and the risk of harm: This includes removing unregulated products and advertising from platforms, enabling social media users to filter out gambling content, and introducing age verification mechanisms for all games and products involving gambling-like features. 
  • Social media platforms raise awareness of risks associated with unregulated gambling products, as well as legal gambling-like products. Social media platforms should also warn their users at key moments, for example, when they receive a message prompting them to make a payment.
  • Other stakeholders, such as banks, financial institutions, or the Gambling Commission, run coordinated public health-style campaigns to educate a wide audience about the potential risks and harms associated with accessing gambling and gambling-like products through social media.

Read the full report for more insights or get in touch to see how our deep understanding of human behaviour and evidence-led problem solving can help you.

Authors

Nilufer Rahim

Principal Research Advisor (Head of Qualitative Research)

Design and development by Soapbox.