By banning the advertising of online games Armenian government aims to prevent addiction to gambling.
By banning the advertising of online gaming Armenian government aims to prevent youth addiction to gambling.

Armenian government is trying to gain more control over the online gambling industry, as they believe that it can easily grow to have a negative influence on the consumers financially and morally as well. Therefore they have been discussing the introduction of the new law that would amend the existing two laws of the Republic of Armenia: The Law on Gambling and Casinos and The Law on Advertising. What Armenian government is trying to do is prohibit, or better said, limit the advertising of internet gambling on the media.

Out of Sight Out Of Mind

The National Assembly of Armenia will discuss a new draft law on amendments to The Law on Gambling and Casinos and The Law on Advertising during an extraordinary session. The new draft law foresees establishing limits on who may advertise online gambling and call people to the action of gambling via various means of advertising. Advertisements will be allowed on the building, in the facilities where games are organized, in hotels with at least 4 stars. The advertising will be banned on TV, radio or other mass media that can reach wider audience and appeal to a great number of people. The main purpose of tightening the regulations and introduction of the amendments to the laws is to protect Armenian citizens by not exposing them to constant invitations to gambling. This way the Government of the Republic of Armenia plans to protect the rights of the consumers and decrease the number of citizens, especially youth who are drawn to online gambling.

It’s the Law, but…

Still, it remains to be seen whether this will bring the results the government hopes for. It is a public secret that despite the law which limits Armenians to gamble on foreign sites, many of them do not respect it and gamble on sites which are licensed outside of Armenia, especially on Russian sites. Even land-based casinos in Armenia offer the access to online games, Live Casinos, etc. on foreign sites. It seems that the government will have much more work to do if they wish to control the world of internet gambling.