Gov’t proposes ban on all gambling advertisements in law amendments

A car participating in the Grand Prix displays a casino advertisement sticker

The Macau government has announced a public consultation on amendments to its over-30-year-old Advertising Activities Law, proposing an explicit ban on all forms of gambling advertisements.

The public consultation period began on Friday and will conclude on August 2, lasting a total of 30 days. Yau Yun Wah, the director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), stated the bureau’s commitment to submit the draft amendment to the Legislative Assembly for review in the fourth quarter of this year.

The government held a press conference on Friday, where Yau emphasized that the current Advertising Activities Law has been in effect for over 35 years. He noted that, given the evolving economic activities across various industries and the rapid advancement of information technology, the landscape of advertising – including business content, promotional formats, and communication media – has changed significantly over time.

The economic chief further clarified that the proposed amendments to the current law aim to align with the government’s Policy Address goal of streamlining administrative licensing approval procedures. This necessitates a review and improvement of the existing regulations governing the issuance of advertising installation permits.

The press conference outlined the main topics of the public consultation regarding advertising regulations. Key points include clarifying definitions, optimizing guidelines for specific products or services, regulating new advertising formats, enhancing the administrative approval system, strengthening oversight, and updating penalties for violations.

Notably, it also proposes a complete ban on all gambling advertisements in Macau, including the display of gambling equipment, going beyond current laws that only permit licensed companies to advertise in designated gambling areas.

“When addressing gambling advertisements, the current Law No. 16/2001 has established regulations within the legal framework governing the operation of gambling activities in casinos. It stipulates that only specific companies are permitted to conduct promotional activities and provide information or engage in gambling-related activities within the gambling zones of casinos. To prevent the adverse effects of gambling advertisements on society, we will generally maintain the policy of prohibiting advertisements that imply gambling, except for promotional activities conducted within the gambling areas of casinos,” Choi Sao Leng, the chief of the DSEDT Licensing and Inspection Department, stated.

Gambling advertisements are officially defined as messages that are linked to gambling activities. This encompasses the display of gambling equipment, tools, scenes, gambling techniques, or odds information; promotions that encourage participation in gambling; and any activities that require engaging in gambling to receive benefits.

Endorsers must promote truthfully, based on facts

Among the various consultation documents, in response to Yau’s emphasis on the importance of adapting existing laws to address the evolving landscape of advertising in the digital age, it is noted that businesses are increasingly using online platforms and applications for promotion, including live-streaming marketing and live-streaming e-commerce. The consultation draft of the Advertising Activities Law proposes to clarify that participants in these online promotional activities – such as advertisers, advertising agencies, platform operators, and live-streamers –must comply with the Advertising Activities Law and relevant regulations to define their respective responsibilities.

Among these, the government has proposed general and prohibitive regulations for advertising endorsers, including the requirement that endorsements be based on facts. Advertising endorsers are prohibited from recommending, certifying, or expressing opinions about products or services they have not used or experienced.

“In fact, after reviewing advertising regulations across various regions, we have found that advertising entities must disseminate advertising information through the media used for advertising purposes. Such advertisements are the subject of advertising activity regulations. Therefore, not all promotional activities involving goods or services are necessarily subject to advertising laws.

In fact, situations such as direct sales, product demonstrations, and direct marketing often involve consumer protection laws, including misleading sales tactics, so a case-by-case analysis is necessary,” Choi further noted.

“Regarding endorsers, we also recommend that endorsers must have used the product themselves to ensure authenticity. The spirit of advertising law is truthfulness. Regarding how to verify or regulate this aspect, if we encounter such cases, we require the parties involved to fulfill their cooperation obligations and provide evidence of their role as endorsers, or whether the contract specifies their role as endorsers. We need to distinguish between the roles of endorsers and actors in advertisements, as endorsers bear greater responsibility.”

The consultation document states that this regulation applies only to commercial advertisements and services, exempting non-commercial advertisements, such as government ads. It is recommended to expand the scope to include all advertising activities in Macau. Additionally, the proposal suggests revising the current licensing system to a pre-approval and registration system, considering the impact of advertisements on public safety, order, the environment, and cultural heritage protection.