The Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) has ordered certified betting firms to stop displaying advertisements on the ‘speed dial’ browser internet feature on the Opera Browser without regulatory authorisation.
The order comes just days after the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) petitioned the licensing board to reign on internet browser providers who have continued displaying betting ads against a set of guidelines issued earlier by the BCLB with the aim of protecting minors.
A browser speed dial is a visual set of entries compiled from the list of a user’s most visited pages on a given browser. The speed dial entries appear as thumbnails that once clicked link to the pages.
On Friday, Cofek said the continued display of betting ads was creating a significant risk to millions of underage citizens who can intermittently access smart devices with or without permission from parents or guardians.
The consumers’ body, for instance, noted that a browser such as Opera Mini had introduced a speed dial feature specifically tailored for Kenya and which on any given day, was offering five to seven shortcuts to leading betting firms.
BCLB notes that the speed dial feature had been adopted by gaming operators leading to the prominent featuring of betting services without due regard to the age, vulnerability and other diversities of the internet users.
