Swedish Regulator Victorious Over Gambling Advert Bans
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Jan 18, 2019
5-year old case upheld by Sweden’s Court of Appeal
The five year legal fight between Swedish media outlets Aftonbladet and Expressen and gambling regulator Lotteriinspektionen has finally been settled by Sweden’s Court of Appeal… and the outcome was not positive for the publications.
Taking InfoPowa readers back to 2013, the regulator fined the two publications for carrying promotional and advertising links on their websites linking to unauthorised international online gambling operators. The case ended up in a Swedish Court, which found against the publications and imposed fines, triggering the appeal which was finalised this week.
The Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s ruling, finding that the links to gambling operators were of a pronounced commercial nature which rendered the freedom of speech and expression argument irrelevant, and that the links constituted advertising. The court was also of the opinion that Sweden’s rather restrictive Gambling Act 1994 is not in conflict with European Union law.
The regulator, which has been increasingly active in warning Swedish companies against accepting international advertisements, reiterated its warning in applauding the Court of Appeal finding.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
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