Twitch could face legal action in Sweden after a private investigation discovered 8 out of 10 prominent Swedish streamers promoted unlicensed casinos to their viewers.
After beingbanned in Turkeyearlier this year over gambling concerns, the popular live streaming platform is now facing scrutiny in Sweden due to the same reasons.
The investigation, which took place over a period of six weeks, saw Kulturnyheterna review live streams from the country’s most prominent influencers.
According to their findings, these streamers were “seen making direct calls to gamble, playing along with their audience, and involving viewers in decisions on stakes, deepening the engagement in gambling activities.”
The investigation also found that 60% of these streamersused marketing tacticslike putting links to the unlicensed casinos in their profiles and even “promoting bonus incentives” for their viewers.
Kulturnyheterna submitted their findings to Sweden’s gambling authority, Spelinspektionen, claiming that “Twitch has become the most common platform to promote unlicensed casinos.”
Although Spelinspektionen has not offered an official response to the investigation, they cautioned that it’s illegal to advertise unlicensed casinos under the Swedish Gambling Act, which could result in police intervention or even outright bans for offending businesses – meaning thatTwitchcould face a ban in Sweden if changes aren’t made.
Related:
Although Twitch latermade changes to its policyby banning gambling sites that aren’t licensed in the US or that fail to provide “sufficient consumer protection,” the site continues to face backlash and even bans in certain countries over allowing broadcasts.
Virginia Glaze is Dexerto’s Entertainment Editor in the US. She expertly covers trending stories across Twitch, Kick, YouTube, and TikTok – as well as fighting games and influencer boxing. Virginia also has bylines at Red Bull, GINX, and Bandai Namco. Contact her here: virginia.glaze@dexerto.com
