CSIG Tries a Different Approach, Targets Gambling Ads

Sheldon Adelson and the lobbying group he helped set up called the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) have long sought to reverse the Department of Justice’s 2011 reinterpretation of the Wire Act, which paved the way for individual states to legally set up their own online gambling industries.
In its latest lobbying efforts, the CSIG has now drawn media attention towards online betting advertisements which it says have appeared on a number of website’s targeting children, seniors citizens, as well as problem gamblers. According to the group, gambling ads were displayed on children’s game sites, such as GirlsGoGames.com, with others appearing on website pages whose headlines included “Twelve Ways To Stop Gambling Addiction Forever”.
Blanche Lincoln
The lobbying group has subsequently attempted to liken the promotions to past advertising campaigns carried out by cigarette companies, which are now illegal under the law, with Blanche Lincoln from CSIG commenting:
“You used to have the Marlboro man, you used to have those ads. Congress in its wisdom and some in the industry determined it was not appropriate. The advertising part of it is exactly what hooks kids and seniors who are desperate, who are marginalized individuals and trying to feed a family.”
Blanche Lincoln was a former Democratic Senator who joined Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online gambling campaign in 2014, but who has largely stayed under the radar until now. Blanche’s latest complaint over gambling-related advertising, however, smacks on desperation, and most likely has more to do with the CSGI’s lack of past success in pushing forward its Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in the legislature.
Consequently, the group is apparently attempting an alternate approach in order to further their agenda, especially with so much money having been spent in the past with no clear results.
Unsubstantiated Claims
Nevertheless, the CSIG’s latest effort is bound to suffer the same lack of success as previous attempts, as Blanche Lincoln’s claims are both unsubstantiated and ignore the reality of how the advertising system actually works online.
For a start, gambling adverts can appear on a web users’ browser based upon their search engines and online activity, and while advertisers have the ability to restrict which websites show their ads, the system is not perfect, with some restricted ads managing to slip past controls. As one advertising expert subsequently explained to Business Insider, in most cases it is actually the websites where the ads appear that are most at fault in such cases, rather than the online advertisers themselves. Speaking from a position of anonymity, a person involved in the online gaming industry described the latest CSIG story as “a setup with no substance”, and elaborating further stated:
“We obviously don’t target sites aimed at minors (not only is it insanely immoral, but people under 21 can’t create accounts at regulated online gambling sites in NJ). As for the screenshots from the news sites, you could come up with a near-infinite number of inappropriate juxtapositions (credit card ads on a site with a story about someone who killed themselves because of financial pressure) by doing what the people shopping the story have done.”
Adelson’s Hypocrisy
Other examples of how Adelson’s attempt to discredit the online gambling industry is ludicrous at best is the fact that one of the articles cited entitled “How to Deal with a Gambling Addiction” showed an advertisement for the Palazzo underneath, which is actually one of Adelson’s very own brick-and-mortar casinos. Even more damming and hypocritical is the fact Adelson has fallen far short of conduct requirements in the past, with some of his casinos in the United States having been fined for numerous violations, including allowing minors to drink and gamble at their establishments.