Where are the regulatory authorities?
Ето преводът на английски:
These days, everything is about football. The Bulgarian National Television is broadcasting all football matches from the World Cup, and during prime time it airs studio programs dedicated to the World Cup. All of this is wonderful, but there is a certain degree of irresponsibility and violation of laws. This concerns the advertisements aired on public television—specifically, gambling advertisements. Article 10, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Gambling Act states:
The advertising of gambling games is prohibited:
in radio and television programs, with the exception of the broadcast of the draws of the State Enterprise "Bulgarian Sports Totalizator" and their announcements;
This ban was introduced after numerous debates in the National Assembly in 2024 in order to reduce the spreading pandemic of gambling addiction.
But “brilliant” advertising specialists have come up with the idea to advertise the construction of gambling venues for Casino 8888, on the grounds that this does not advertise the game itself, but rather the premises where gambling takes place. “Brilliant”—but only for the naive and for those who want to turn a blind eye. At least two very sharp and painful questions arise from this advertisement:
Why did the management of BNT allow this elementary trick to circumvent the Law to be implemented? I raise this question about BNT because it is the public television broadcaster and is obliged to comply with the laws and, if there is suspicion of circumvention, to react and not allow it. Although the same advertisement also runs on other media, which are likewise accountable to the public and must comply with the laws;
Where is the state and the regulatory authorities, represented by the CPC and the NRA? Why have they not acted on their own initiative and taken measures to ban this advertisement? The NRA can impose sanctions that would deter this circumvention of the Gambling Act, and the CPC can ban it by declaring it an Unfair Commercial Practice and Misleading Advertising. I believe only they are deluded into thinking that the construction of gambling venues is being advertised, and not the gambling games themselves. After all, everyone knows that opening such a venue involves serious regulatory requirements for equipment and operation. But as the saying goes, “The crazy one is not the one who eats the pie, but the one who gave it to him”—in this case, the one who allowed gambling to be advertised despite the ban. Just as these two bodies slept through the price increases after the adoption of the Euro in Bulgaria, and only they do not see the unregulated rise in prices, in this particular case, only they do not see a problem with advertising gambling on radio and television broadcasts. Various politicians boast that the CPC has been given extensive powers in connection with price increases and how this will deter traders. Powers may exist on paper, but if there is no will or capacity to apply those powers, they remain only on paper. The unimpeded broadcasting of this advertisement is the epitome of negligence, lack of capacity, and unwillingness to apply and comply with legal requirements.
I call on the responsible institutions to compel the regulatory authorities to do their job and ban this advertisement on television and radio as soon as possible, before the World Cup ends. In this case, no evidence gathering is required; it is merely a matter of perception and, accordingly, whether the “Average Consumer” believes that gambling or a gambling venue is being advertised—which is the same thing.
