The practices for a responsible BE online casino affiliate

The practices described below are specifically aimed at online casino affiliates who focus on entering partnerships with gambling providers licensed in Belgium. The online casino affiliate is required to comply with all the points below.

1.     Channelling objectives and limited advertising

• The affiliate shall only advertise for licensed operators on its channels.
• If the affiliate provides coverage on illegal operators, it shall remain only objective and factual. The messages shall be devoid of any elements or statements that are advertising in nature or may give the impression it be a ‘’good idea’’ to partake in the unlicensed offer of these operators.
• The affiliate shall only advertise for operators by means of (paid) search results within the search programme or search function on their own website. Coverage of operators outside of paid search programmes or search functions shall be limited to factual and objective content.

2.     Responsible advertising

• The affiliate shall not target people under the age of 21 in their marketing activities by design or intent.
• The affiliate must include the warning phrase ‘’Gokken kan verslavend zijn. Stop op tijd! Meer info op stopoptijd.be’’ and a characteristic depicting the applicable age limit in their marketing activities.
• The affiliate must include the warning phrase and a characteristic depicting the applicable age limit on every webpage of their website. Both must be present in the footer and at the top of the website. Both must be clearly visible by appropriate use of size, position and placement.

3.     Balanced design of content

• The affiliate ensures careful and balanced design of advertising and/or marketing expressions.
• The affiliate shall not negatively portray people who choose not to partake in the gambling offer, have chosen to seek help for a gambling addiction or that play responsibly. Inversely, the affiliate shall not praise people that do the opposite.
• The affiliate shall not promote, incite or praise financially irresponsible behaviour in relation to gambling, or portray gambling as a means to (quickly) obtain financial gain, solve (financial) issues, or as an alternative to working, saving and other financially responsible choices and behaviour.
• The affiliate shall not, by design or intent, use imagery, persons, expressions, or other marketing practices to target or appeal to vulnerable groups, minors or excluded persons.
• The affiliate shall not promote, incite or praise irresponsible gambling behaviour.

4.     Preventing deception

• The affiliate shall ensure transparency and clarity on the promoted offer and ancillary activities outside of advertising games of chance. To this end, the design and content of the messaging shall not omit important information or otherwise create an unrealistic/incorrect impression of a gambling offer.
• The affiliate shall provide clear information regarding the nature and workings of the gambling offer. This shall be done by design and intent, avoiding making misleading statements, omissions or using elements that may be construed to mean or imply something other than a truthful representation of gambling.

5.     Contributing to responsible gaming

• The affiliate shall provide a ’Responsible Gambling’ webpage on their website, clearly findable by means of a reference in the footer. This webpage shall include information on the risks of gambling addictions, as well as tips in the context of responsible gambling.
• The affiliate offers sufficient means and resources for obtaining information and help for a gambling addiction.