Sweden‘s gaming regulator, Spelinspektionen, has sanctioned Videoslots for failing to discourage excessive gambling and breaching its duty of care to consumers.
The operator, which conducts online gaming in Sweden via the videoslots.com and videoslots.se websites, has also been handed a SEK 12,000,000 (£938,400) sanction fee for breaching Chapter 14, Section 1 of Sweden’s Gambling Act – which calls on licensees to “protect players against excessive gambling and to help them reduce their gambling when there is reason to do so (duty of care)”.
“Videoslots Ltd has not taken sufficiently effective measures to discourage excessive gambling. They have also not followed up on the effect of the measures taken and have not acted quickly enough. Thus, the company has breached the so-called duty of care,” stated Spelinspektionen.
The operator previously reached a £2m settlement with the UK Gambling Commission in June 2023 after social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures were discovered during a commission investigation.
Under review
The decision followed Spelinspektionen undergoing a review of Videoslots’ compliance with the Gambling Act in early 2024.
The gambling authority requested customer data for twelve selected Videoslots customers who lost money during the review period, comprising of five players aged between 18 and 24 and seven players aged over 25.
Videoslots was required to submit information such as deposits and withdrawals during the review period, the times when customers were logged into the platform and losses during the period.
Following the review, Spelinspektionen concluded that all 12 customers exhibited excessive gambling and showed multiple indicators of excessive gambling.
The ruling states that over half the customers demonstrated patterns of gambling multiple times per day or continuously for many hours, and nine customers played during nighttime hours.
Videoslots implements a net loss threshold of SEK 15,000 (£1,178) for players under 24, and four of the five players reviewed were denied depositing after exceeding the net loss threshold.
Additionally, all customers lost “substantial amounts” during the review period, including individual losses of SEK 470,000 (£36,932) for one customer and over SEK 300,000(£23,574) for five customers.
Reflecting on this behaviour, Spelinspektionen found that “Videoslots’ measures were either ineffective, delayed, or both”.
Interventions mainly consisted of pop-up messages within the platform or general advice, which, according to Spelinspektionen, failed to impact gambling patterns.
Videoslots also failed to “escalate to more forceful interventions” or adequately assess the effectiveness of interventions.
For example, the ruling highlights that one of the customers reviewed was able to continue to gamble heavily despite being identified as high risk and was able to deposit over SEK 500,000 (£39,290) without further restrictive action.
Videoslots response
The final ruling also documents Videoslots’ objections to Spelinspektionen’s decision, claiming that its duty of care protocols meet the wording of Chapter 14, Section 1.
The regulation states in full: “A licensee shall ensure that social and health considerations are observed in gambling operations in order to protect players against excessive gambling and to help them reduce their gambling when there is reason to do so (duty of care). The duty of care includes counteracting excessive gambling through continuous control of gambling behaviour. The licensee must report in an action plan how the duty of care is to be fulfilled.”
Videoslots argues that more detailed requirements, such as access restrictions and limitations, are not included within the wording of the regulation, therefore, the absence of specific regulations “should at least lead to any violations being considered minor or excusable”.
Additionally, Videoslots believes that it is “unreasonable” to expect to witness significant player behaviour changes during the three-month review period undertaken by Spelinspektionen.
“Videoslots agrees that some indicators used by the Gambling Authority may suggest problem gambling. However, regarding “playing at night” and “frequent weekly play,” the company argues that customers are free to choose when they gamble. Likewise, it’s up to customers to decide how much money they spend, as there is no legal limit on monthly gambling amounts,” says the ruling.
Despite these arguments, Videoslots was still found to have breached Chapter 14, Section 1 and, as such, has been issued with a warning and financial penalty.
According to the ruling, Videoslots has already taken steps to implement stricter measures, such as access restrictions, deposit limits and permanent account closures as a last resort.
The ruling was signed off by Camilla Rosenberg, Director-General of Spelinspektionen, and Videoslots has the option to appeal the sanctions.