This week the popular social networking site Facebook caused a storm worldwide by launching real cash gambling for the first time on its site to UK users only.

The new gambling app, Bingo Friendzy created by Gamesys, will allow the British Facebook community to stake real cash on 90 ball, bingo and slots games using credit cards. With cartoon imagery as part of its branding Bingo Friendzy has a distinct appeal to younger people mirroring the design of digital children’s game Moshi Monsters. Facebook has advised concerned critics that only over 18s will be permitted to gamble but with no checks on ages at the point of signing up for an account this claim has little credibility.

Despite the following statement on the social networking site itself that “Facebook requires all users to provide their real date of birth to encourage authenticity and provide only age-appropriate access to content.” there is no mechanism in place to verify a person’s age when signing up to Facebook. All that is required is an active email address to confirm account activation; a tech-savvy teenager does not need to input a real birth date or even a real name in order to set up a profile and start gaming. This simple circumvention of the age-gating technology Facebook boasts of proves them unable to protect vulnerable children from the lure of quick wins that gambling offers.

This has been evidenced by a 2011 Consumer Report survey in the US which found that 7.5 million Facebook users were under the age of 13 — even though the site has a minimum age restriction of 13. More disturbingly, among this group of minors using Facebook, more than 5 million were 10 and under[1].

The Advertising Standards Authority is responsible for ensuring that gambling advertisements should not “be likely to be of particular appeal to under 18’s, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture”. The marketing of Bingo Friendzy appears to be in breach of these guidelines, regardless of the theoretical age-gating that Facebook operates.

Facebook intends to release more gambling apps in the coming months including poker and slot machine gaming.

To read more from the Daily Telegraph on this story click here.

[1] http://pressroom.consumerreports.org/pressroom/2011/05/cr-survey-75-million-facebook-users-are-under-the-age-of-13-violating-the-sites-terms-.html

- See more at: http://www.care.org.uk/news/online-gambling-advertising-targets-children...