The project unanimously approved by the Legislature was referred to the Executive for its regulation.
Argentina.- Last Friday, November 22, a bill was unanimously approved in the Legislature of the province of Tucumán establishing a regulatory framework for the activity of gambling and online betting, with special emphasis on the prevention of child gambling addiction.
The purpose of the law is to prohibit illegal online betting sites and portals, as well as the regulation and control of those that are already in legal conditions. In turn, this law seeks to implement a self-exclusion button on all betting pages, allowing users to automatically block the possibility of entering them to prevent or mitigate gambling addiction.
On the other hand, through the new legislation, betting portals will be blocked in educational establishments and public offices to prevent anyone from accessing them. It will also be required that for these sites to be lawful, they must register with the Caja Popular de Ahorros. This list of registered portals will be publicly accessible so that any citizen can consult them.
Finally, an interministerial table for the prevention and support of those who are already under the influence of this addiction will be created, providing the necessary and appropriate tools.
The governor of Tucumán, Osvaldo Jaldo, met at the Government House with legislator Hugo Ledesma, with whom he discussed the approval of the new norm. After the meeting, Ledesma said: "A law that was of great concern to the citizens of Tucumán was sanctioned, which was the issue of fighting gambling addiction. We have worked around 30 legislators in a sort of 18 projects that have been unified and came out yesterday."
And he added: "The truth is that it will be a good tool for the gambling regulatory body in the province, which is the Caja Popular de Ahorros, but also in a joint effort with other ministries, such as the ministries of Health, Social Development, and Security to work to combat this scourge that is gambling addiction and especially what concerns us most in the case of children and adolescents."
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The legislator also explained that the last law regulating gambling is from 2016, when online gambling was not booming, therefore it was essential to have new tools.
Ledesma detailed: "We have a job that, first of all, is to make sure that minors cannot access the gambling portals. Of course, one of the main tools to achieve this is to have identification through biometric data. This is something that Mi Argentina and banks have when one wants to enter" and said that this would prevent minors from accessing mobile applications: "Today, with the entry of a photo of the DNI is enough and it can be a borrowed DNI."
Regarding the exclusion button, Ledesma explained: "It will be necessary to have an exclusion button, so that the person who believes or feels affected by gambling addiction can access this button and immediately be excluded for six months, after which, if they want to return, they will have to go through a process, otherwise they can be excluded for life."
He also said that they will work on advertising so that children "are not bombarded many times on social networks and in their daily handling of the cell phone". And he emphasized prevention in schools, where teachers will be trained. They will also advance with the IP blocking in schools so that minors cannot gamble using the WI-FI of educational institutions. The same resolution will apply to official bodies.
He also commented: "There has to be a coordinated effort in many areas. Of course, also giving the tool to the parents. If we say that they can be in class playing, they can also be sitting at the dinner table in front of the father and mother and be playing."
"This law that we have passed in Tucumán now is innovative, cutting-edge, and a great tool," Ledesma stated after the meeting with the governor.
