Italy Tightens Rules for Safer Gambling Campaigns
Italy.- 12 August 2026 | www.zonadeazar.com Italian communications authority AGCOM has strengthened the requirements governing safer and responsible gambling campaigns, with particular attention to celebrity endorsements, tipsters and messaging that could operate as disguised brand promotion.
The new guidelines have been issued to the 46 licensed operators forming Italy’s new online gambling regime while maintaining the restrictions imposed under the Dignity Decree.
News Details
AGCOM will review responsible gambling campaigns to ensure that they are not being used as an indirect form of commercial advertising.
Operators should avoid celebrities or testimonials already associated with their commercial brands, as their involvement could transform a prevention initiative into a promotional message.
Campaigns must also avoid commercial slogans and promotional taglines associated with the operator.
The regulator’s central principle is that harm-prevention messaging must take precedence over the identity and visibility of the gambling brand.
Tipsters and Social Media
AGCOM has also announced plans to review social-media platforms amid the proliferation of betting tipsters claiming to provide winning strategies or predictive systems.
Although such profiles may not always have a direct relationship with licensed operators, the authority reiterated that online platforms should apply greater scrutiny to advertising connected with illegal or unauthorised gambling companies.
The regulator is seeking to limit both direct promotion and communications that could normalise online gambling or present betting as a predictable route to financial gain.
Industry Context
AGCOM has also discouraged the use of very short advertising formats, including billboards, short-form videos and L-shaped television graphics, arguing that these formats do not provide sufficient space or time for meaningful gambling-harm prevention messages.
Responsible gambling campaigns will be assessed in line with the nine risk indicators developed under the European Committee for Standardisation framework to identify potentially problematic gambling behaviour.
Italy’s 2018 Dignity Decree remains in force, preserving the blanket prohibition on gambling advertising and sponsorship across Italian media and sport.
Safer and responsible gambling communications remain among the limited forms of gambling-related messaging permitted, provided they are not used as disguised commercial promotion.
Statements
AGCOM stated:
“Operators should avoid using celebrities or testimonials already associated with their commercial brand.”
The authority believes the use of such figures creates a risk of normalising online gambling and undermining the preventive purpose of responsible gambling campaigns.
The regulator also stressed that, within these communications, “the prevention message must take precedence over the operator’s identity”.
Next Steps or Impact
AGCOM will continue monitoring campaigns and social platforms to determine whether responsible gambling communications comply with the applicable restrictions.
The industry is also awaiting any future review of the Dignity Decree, although the Italian Government has not yet confirmed whether the advertising ban will be amended or repealed.
At the same time, Italy is considering further measures affecting the sector, including a proposal for a 2% levy on football betting revenues to generate additional funding for Italian football.
The developments leave operators facing an increasingly demanding environment in which player-protection obligations must be balanced against extremely limited opportunities for commercial communication.
Editó: @fonta
