As part of the examination, in the Chamber, of the bill for the conversion, with amendments, of the decree of 15 September 2023, n. 123, containing urgent measures to combat youth hardship, educational poverty and juvenile crime, as well as for the safety of minors in the digital environment (Caivano Decree, ed.), the 5 Star Movement has presented an agenda which commits the Government to "prohibit the promotion and inducement of gambling, in any form and manner, towards minors under the age of 18, prohibiting any activity aimed at soliciting or inducing minors to gamble and bet, including misleading advertising present on sports internet portals that recall the world of betting and card games linked to gambling; offering bonuses or promotions to encourage people to gamble; the sponsorship of events or activities to promote gambling and betting; the dissemination of false or misleading information on gambling and betting”. During today's discussion the agenda received a favorable opinion with the reformulation "to evaluate the opportunity to" and was subsequently approved.
Below is the full text of the reformulated and approved agenda:
The Chamber, given that: article 13 of the provision under examination lays down provisions for parental control in electronic communication devices; in particular, it contains rules intended to ensure the possibility of free use of applications for parental control of electronic communication devices; this possibility is guaranteed through the provision of obligations, immediately borne by the suppliers and, once fully operational, by the producers; administrative pecuniary sanctions are imposed for the violation of these obligations; for offers of electronic communication services dedicated to minors, the regulations already in force are confirmed, which provides for the supplier the obligation to pre-activate (also free of charge) a parental control application (not applicable by those exercises parental responsibility); considering that: various studies and research have proven that in youth distress and in the phenomenon of bullying and arrogance, which also lead to episodes like that of Caivano, there are often disorders caused by the use of substances or otherwise; disorders linked to the distorted use of technologies ('gaming', the internet) or cases of disorders linked to gambling among minors are increasingly frequent and widespread, commits the Government to evaluating the opportunity to ban: the promotion and induction of gambling, in any form and manner, towards minors under the age of 18, prohibiting any activity aimed at soliciting or inducing minors to gamble and bet, including misleading advertising present on internet portals of a sporting nature which they recall the world of betting and card games linked to gambling; offering bonuses or promotions to encourage people to gamble; the sponsorship of events or activities to promote gambling and betting; the dissemination of false or misleading information on gambling and betting.
9/1517/46. Quartini, Marianna Ricciardi, Di Lauro, Sportiello, Alfonso Colucci, Auriemma, Penza, Riccardo Ricciardi, Morfino (M5S)
Below is the speech in the Chamber by the M5S deputy, Andrea Quarters: “I accept simply because I want to grasp that minimum opening, but we believe that there can be no mediation on the gamble. Clearly I would have preferred an evaluation of greater cogency and greater commitment from the Government. However, appreciating this minimum of openness, we accept the reformulation."
These, however, are the words of the M5S deputy, Francesco Silvestri (pictured): “Simply to say that, obviously, we welcome the reformulation of this agenda, but we would have expected a little more courage, not the weakening of an agenda, which is absolutely reasonable. As the 5 Star Movement, we always refer to sentence no. 371 of 2011, which establishes three important principles. The first: Member States can impose restrictions on the gambling sector, as they recognize that this can be a risk to our community and to public order. The second objective is that consumer protection from addiction is poorly suited to the economic expansion of the gaming sector. The third principle that is recognized is that advertisements must not trivialize the effects of gambling and must not, therefore, incite the activity. On these assumptions, a Government activity of Conte 1 was built, which, in the Dignity decree, expressly prohibited gambling. This ban was, obviously, misinterpreted by Agcom. The result of Agcom's work is that, if today we see a national team match, we see the beautiful billboards that recall the gambling sites, with a semantic scam that has been used regarding the information part. Now, there is another and final aspect that interests me: the protection of our young people and our children. Our kids are bombarded, on their smartphones and tablets, with advertisements that recall - even with misleading names, specifically created for their sensitivity, such as love, candy, heart, with images peppered with animals that can be of any type, with sweets, all with a crashing sound of a cascade of coins – a sensitivity that, at their age, should not be called upon. And look, they are also our children and our young people, it's not that the problem is only outside these classrooms. What I want to tell you is that here there are no games for our minors with cash winnings, but the psychological and adrenaline-pumping effect of the system absolutely recalls that of slot machines. And while mayors across Italy fight with their restrictions against the effects of gambling, the industry in the sector is preparing its future terrain. And all this also happens with around 2.000 games created ad hoc, such as slot machine category, of which 19 bear the indication "for children", i.e. "for minors aged 4 to 8". This is a scandal that we must all commit to stopping, because the objective of this is clear: to use the playful, or presumed playful, part of gambling to lead to the effects of addiction problems. Among other things, I challenge you to find the playful part with regard to slot machines: in fact, I ask you to go on the internet and look for a photograph of a person smiling in front of a slot machine. You won't find any because the effect is only the one I mentioned.
The deputy also intervened afterwards Paul Ciani (PD-IDP), who, signing the agenda, explained: “We absolutely agree on this topic”.
