Measures to curb teen addiction to betting and gambling in Greece are being requested by the Hellenic National Bioethics and Technoethics Commission, which has issued a Recommendation addressing the phenomenon.

The Recommendation highlights the rapid growth of digital betting and gambling applications as a key factor behind minors’ increasing familiarity with such activities, even though legislation already prohibits their use by underage users. It stresses that, beyond controlling illegal applications, it is necessary to limit advertising of legal apps as well, when teenagers may be among the audience—primarily for public health reasons, in order to prevent addiction.

The Commission also notes that special user identification measures should be introduced to prevent minors from indirectly accessing these applications.

The Commission believes that the state must adopt targeted measures to protect adolescents from general exposure to gambling, beyond the control of the illegal gaming market, for which a legislative initiative has already been announced.

The goal should be to curb the worrying rise in addiction cases observed in recent years, due to the rapid expansion of this particular “market.” Specifically:

• Advertising on radio and television should be regulated by law, especially during high-viewership and high-listenership periods (for example during sports broadcasts or programs). Responsibility for establishing the relevant regulations belongs to the General Secretariat for Communication and Media, while enforcement falls to the National Council for Radio and Television (Greece).
• At the initiative of the Hellenic Gaming Commission and in cooperation with companies in the sector, a similar provision should be added to the Advertising and Communication Code as part of the market’s self-regulation.
• Conditions should be introduced regarding the frequency and content of online advertising. In this case as well, responsibility for setting the rules lies with the General Secretariat for Communication and Media, while enforcement lies with the National Council for Radio and Television.
• The Ministry of Education (Greece) should launch awareness initiatives within schools to inform teenagers about the risks of addiction. This initiative should be combined with the already planned cooperation between the Hellenic Gaming Commission and the National Organization for the Prevention and Treatment of Addictions (Greece).
• User verification should make use of the Gov Wallet infrastructure, where citizens’ identity data are securely stored in an interoperable system (as is also being planned for minors’ access to social media platforms). This would prevent minors from bypassing current verification procedures and accessing betting platforms through anonymous prepaid cards. The proposal follows the Commission’s recent declaration on protecting children from harmful algorithmic effects on social media.

A related initiative should be undertaken by the Ministry of Digital Governance (Greece) in cooperation with the Hellenic Gaming Commission.

Within the same framework, the Ministry of Finance (Greece) should introduce measures to limit the use of prepaid debit cards, which are currently the most common transaction method among younger age groups.