Three proposals were shared. The opposition insisted on banning the activity while the ruling party emphasized the need to deepen prevention campaigns, but without banning the operation of betting sites.
Argentina.- The General Legislation Committee of the Córdoba City Council once again became the forum for debate on three projects related to gambling and online betting in the city.
The councilors from the Civic Front block, led by Graciela Villata, along with their peers from the Radical Civic Union, Elisa Caffaratti, Sergio Piguillem and Verónica Garade Panetta; and Jessica Rovetto Yapur from Cordobeses por la Libertad insisted on their ordinance project that prohibits online gambling in the capital of Córdoba.
The opposition initiative establishes the prohibition of providing gambling, betting, and related activities online, virtually, and through any technological device. It also sets the blocking of betting websites in public municipal establishments, schools, and municipal recreation centers.
The agenda of the committee meeting included two other projects that provide for the implementation of prevention campaigns against online gambling addiction. The initiative of Nicolás Piloni and the bench responding to leader Luis Juez promotes a preventive campaign aimed at teenagers to raise awareness about the risks associated with online betting games. In conjunction, the project of councilor Soher El Sukaria referred to a comprehensive prevention campaign against gambling addiction was also discussed.
For the analysis of these three initiatives, Luis Lubeck, educational mentor of the NGO Cibersegura, participated as a guest, detailing: “Child gambling addiction must be addressed from various aspects: direct effects, easy money, cybersecurity, minors' access to fake profiles, and what minors may be exposed to. Then comes identity theft, when it is unknown where they place their data in virtual wallets”.
“Teenagers access these sites in all the options they propose, whether through influencers, sports events where the sponsors are gaming sites. From an educational point of view, it can be blocked using keywords, prohibitions of illegal sites. But we must understand that today teenagers navigate better than adults, they do it with hidden identities, therefore not only is blocking necessary, but the focus must also be on raising awareness,” Lubeck elaborated.
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The NGO began its work by going to educational settings with talks for different age ranges, for adults, families, and teachers, both formal and informal. “The approach must be personalized according to the place where it is directed,” the expert affirmed.
In this context, councilor Rossana Pérez emphasized education and not prohibition, as well as the need to reach everyone to inform about the dangers of technology.
