Sportsbet ‘pressured ACMA to publicly soften enforcement announcement wording’ – report

A gambling company, Sports bettingallegedly relied on Australia’s communications watchdog to tone down the wording of a public enforcement announcement, according to documents released under freedom of information laws.

ABC News reports that in 2022, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fined Sportsbet a record A$2.5 million ($1.7 million) after finding the company had sent marketing text messages and emails to tens of thousands of people who had already tried to unsubscribe, in violation of Australia’s spam laws.

But documents obtained by the outlet suggest Sportsbet managed to convince the regulator to soften key parts of a draft press release before publication.

Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie described the situation as deeply worrying.

“It’s shocking on every level,” he said. “This exchange shows a very, very warm relationship and a very unhealthy relationship.”

Gambling Policy Hub gambling policy expert Lauren Levin said the company and regulator had behaved inappropriately.

“Sportsbet is totally irrelevantand I think the regulator is completely out of line as well,” she said. “It is completely unbelievable that a chairman of a regulator would allow his words to be changed.”

Despite the criticism, the ACMA rejected claims the final announcement had been watered down, insisting it had not been “diminished in any way”.

Wider concerns about regulator independence

ABC News also noted that the regulator is facing increasing scrutiny over how close it is to the industries it oversees. Previous reports revealed that the ACMA had privately negotiated with Optus to reduce penalties for serious public safety breaches, and even adjusted the timing of an enforcement announcement involving the Commonwealth Bank so that it did not conflict with the bank’s annual general meeting.

According to the documents, Sportsbet objected to the wording of an early version of the ACMA’s press release regarding the enforcement action. The regulator found that the company had sent more than 150,000 messages to more than 37,000 people who had already tried to unsubscribe.

In the original version, ACMA President Nerida O’Loughlin was quoted as saying: “It is very likely that some of these people are vulnerable to gambling-related problems and were trying to resolve the problem by unsubscribing from Sportsbet’s promotions.” »

She also said: “It is an important decision for individuals to choose to stop gambling and Sportsbet’s failures in this matter had the potential to cause financial and emotional harm to these individuals and their families. »

Sportsbet objected to both passages, arguing that the wording should be “tempered/modified as the strength, breadth or basis of the statement is questionable.”

In the final public version, the wording was reportedly changed to indicate that the ACMA had received complaints from people experiencing gambling-related problems and that the company’s failures had the “real potential to contribute to financial and emotional harm”.

Anthony Whealy, a former NSW Supreme Court judge and president of the Center for Public Integrity, said the regulator should never have relented.

“He has to stick to his guns and he doesn’t,” he said. “The reason Sportsbet didn’t want those sentences included was because they amplified the evil of what they had done, but it rightly amplified the evil.

“This is another example of a regulator who, because of the cozy relationships it enjoys, wrongly accedes to requests for special treatment.”

Wilkie urged the Albanian government to examine whether this type of behavior indicates a broader systemic problem.

Responses from ACMA and Sportsbet

The ACMA declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that changes had been made “to more accurately reflect the circumstances of the case”. He said draft press releases were shared to ensure they were fair and accurate, and rejected claims he was not holding companies to account.

Sportsbet defended its involvement, saying: “Sportsbet provided feedback on three suggested amendments aimed at correcting the data and the factual accuracy of the statements.

“The ACMA retained ultimate control over the drafting and content of the press release.

“Any decision regarding media release is a matter for the ACMA.”

The company did not explain what evidence it used to challenge the regulator’s original wording.

Sportsbet also said it has since overhauled its systems, saying it conducted “an end-to-end review of its consent and marketing frameworks” and improved its policies, training and systems to meet regulatory requirements.

Levin also raised concerns about a separate case involving a man suffering from what she described as a “severe gambling problem.” Her game files ran to over 900 pages, which were among the largest she had ever seen.

After unsubscribing from marketing in mid-2020, the man then received a personalized email from a Sportsbet staff member offering direct contact details, priority betting services, hospitality tickets and a “$500 bonus bet”.

Levin said he continued to gamble and later suffered serious financial and mental health problems.

She accused Sportsbet of exploiting a loophole that allowed her to continue contacting him despite the unsubscribe request, and said the company should have intervened much sooner.

In 2023, she helped file a complaint with the ACMA, asking why the man had not received compensation under the $1.2 million reimbursement scheme linked to the spam violations.

According to Levin, the regulator refused to take action.

“As far as I know, they didn’t do anything with his complaint. He was alone.”

The ACMA said it could not comment on individual cases for confidentiality reasons and noted that the compensation system was managed by Sportsbet with independent oversight. He also said he did not have the authority to order compensation to specific people.

Sportsbet also declined to comment on this individual case, saying it carries out ongoing checks with customers and promotes safer gambling tools.

ReadWrite has contacted the ACMA and Sportsbet for comment.

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