Gambling streams on Twitch are full of legal and ethical issues
Can gambling streams on Twitch have long-term effects on audiences?
Age-gating and gambling
Research on Twitch is growing, particularly in relation togambling streams.One of the first studiesin this area found that approximately four per cent of adults in the United Kingdom watch gambling streams like the Twitch slot channels, compared to approximately 14 percent who actually play such slot machine games online. This study also found a correlation between watching gambling online and self-reported problem gambling, but cause and effect remain unclear.
Live gambling streams inspire some important ethical and regulatory discussions. Themedia outcryover these streamsoften points to the risk of exposing youth to gambling.Age-gating, or age verification, on Twitch or elsewhere is minimal. A streamer can indicate that the stream is intended for mature audiences, but this does not restrict any viewer from clicking “Start Watching.”
The decades-longnorm of disregardingage-gatingin digital games demonstrates how easy these sorts of barriers are to evade. This suggests new legal concerns for live streaming platforms that allow gambling to be broadcast.
Transparency and legal issues
A separate set of issues exist when it comes to transparency. Streamers may be committing malicious deception, or even outright fraud if they fail to disclose affiliations with the gambling sites at which they play.
For example,some sponsorship contractsmay entitle the streamer to regular balance “top ups.” This involves a gambling site providing a free (or in casino terms, “comped”) account balance refresh. This practice raises questions regarding advertising standards, as well as the safety and mental health of the streamers themselves — like xQc’s concerns over a possible gambling addiction.
In addition, the underlying gambling activity itselfcould be illegaldepending on the license status of the gambling website and geolocation of the streamer. Yet determining what is permitted is not always a simple task.
If the gambling website is hosted in one location, the streamer in another, and the viewers are located around the world, which local, national and international laws apply? Compound thiswith a variety of currencies— likefiat,fungible crypto,non-fungible crypto, virtual currencies without cash value — not all of which are legal tender for gambling in all jurisdictions, and the complexity of the situation becomes clear.
Twitch’scommunity guidelinesare nevertheless clear that streamers must follow relevant laws, that illegal content is prohibited and thatthe platform will take actionvia suspensions or bans following investigations of reported illegal gambling.
In mid-August,Twitch announced a creator updateprohibiting sharing links and referral codes to slots, roulette, or dice games. The goal was “preventing harm and scams created by questionable gambling services that sponsor content on Twitch.” As a blanket prohibition, it does not discern between licensed and unlicensed gambling sites and does not include poker, another commonly streamed game.
Why do people watch live gambling streams?
With this range of issues, why do people watch live gambling streams? For people experiencing problems with their gambling, they might turn to casino streams to cope with cravings. On arecent podcast episode ofAll Bets Are Off, a gambling addiction recovery podcast, two men discussed using live gambling streams as part of their recovery.
Alternatively, interest in these streams may be unrelated to gambling cravings andfocus on entertainment,excitement, orother gambling motivationslike financial interests.
Our latest ongoing research explores viewing motives using data from Twitch live chat, alongside an analysis of the characteristics of Twitch’s major slots stream videos.
Technological innovation has always developed more quickly than government rules that govern any given space. As a result, activities like slots streaming fall into an area of uncertainty. Ultimately, it seems that consideration of consumer protection in this space cannot solely be a government-regulated effort.
Given the complexity of the jurisdictional rule and the potential harm that may arise from gambling, all stakeholders — streamers, platforms, game developers, consumers themselves, parents, and more — have a role to play in ensuring that games and their many means of play and broadcast are, as Twitch declares as its goal, “a friendly, positive experience for our global community.”
Broadcasting real-money gambling inevitably complicates the ethical practices of such a platform. Gambling live streams appear likely to become an increasingly important part of contemporary gambling practices in the years to come and merit the closest study.
Article byBrett Abarbanel, Director of Research, International Gaming Institute,University of Nevada, Las Vegas;Dimitrios Avramidis, Research Assistant, Centre for Gambling Research,University of British Columbia;Luke Clark, Director, Centre for Gambling Research at UBC,University of British Columbia, andMark R Johnson, Lecturer in Digital Cultures,University of Sydney
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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