‘No evidence of harm’ implies no evidence of safety: Framing the lack of causal evidence in gambling advertising research

Gambling advertising is a common feature in international jurisdictions that have liberalized gambling. In the Anglosphere, countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have experienced extensive gambling advertising during the past decade. This advertising is particularly prominent in relation to professional sports and lottery products. More recently, some Canadian provinces and US states have also witnessed a similar rise in gambling advertising. Several European governments, including Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, have more recently restricted gambling advertising and sponsorship in professional sports, but the UK government did not announce any action on gambling advertising and sponsorship in its 2023 White Paper. In September 2023, the UK's Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society addressed a governmental select committee, stating: ‘We have very much gone on the evidence, and there's little evidence that exposure to advertising alone causes people to enter into gambling harm’ [1]. This is consistent with the position of the main UK gambling industry trade body, which frequently states in the media that there is ‘no evidence’ linking gambling advertising to harm [2].