Psychologists want to better protect vulnerable groups from the risks of online gambling

The Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen (NIP) has launched a solemn appeal for better protection for vulnerable groups from the risks associated with online gambling. The organisation, which represents Dutch psychologists, believes that current policies are failing to effectively prevent gambling addiction, leaving the most susceptible gamblers exposed to aggressive commercial strategies.

Measures deemed insufficient

The NIP’s appeal comes against a backdrop of regulatory change. Last week, Secretary of State Teun Struycken presented his new vision of online gambling, proposing a series of measures designed to limit the risks. These include raising the minimum legal age to 21, tighter restrictions on advertising, and a redefinition of operators’ duty of care.

The NIP has welcomed this change of direction, which it sees as an opportunity to correct an approach that has long been permissive. Psychologists are calling for this reform to be accompanied by concrete action, including scientific monitoring of measures, a review of the prevention funding model and the involvement of independent experts in the evaluation of protection tools.

Experts’ recommendations

Rethink the funding of prevention

At present, the Addiction Prevention Fund is financed by part of the compulsory contributions paid by gaming operators. The NIP believes that this approach is inadequate.

According to the psychologists, this fund should be financed not by the general State budget, but directly by the tax on paid games. This change would stabilise funding without weakening the legal gaming market or increasing competition from illegal platforms.

The overhaul would also guarantee the independence of prevention initiatives, which today are often limited by limited resources or are dependent on political decisions.

Accompany the reform with studies and concrete measures

The NIP is not content to simply support the government’s proposals: it wants to back them up with in-depth research, well-defined prevention strategies and appropriate treatments. The aim is clear: to provide effective protection for young people and vulnerable groups, going well beyond declarations of intent.

Other key demands include:

• A total ban on online gambling advertising
• The introduction of overall gambling ceilings to prevent players from circumventing the limits by changing platforms.

These measures, according to the NIP, should be proactive, based on scientific data, and implemented under the strict supervision of the Kansspelautoriteit.

The urgent need for transparency and independent expertise

The NIP also stresses a central point: the opacity of operators’ practices. It is currently very difficult, if not impossible, for independent experts to access internal data on protection mechanisms, algorithms for detecting risky behaviour, or pre-programmed financial thresholds.

This means not only making operators transparent, but also imposing on them an obligation to achieve results, and not simply to use their best endeavours.

A public health issue

Behind this regulatory debate lies a real public health crisis. Cases of addiction linked to online gambling are multiplying, and support structures are finding themselves overwhelmed for lack of resources or appropriate regulation.

Psychologists point out that addictive mechanisms are powerful, often invisible, and even more destructive when they affect young people under the age of 21 or adults in psychologically or socially fragile situations.

Without strict supervision, online gambling becomes a breeding ground for spiralling debt, isolation and psychological distress.

Systemic reform awaited

The proposals put forward by Secretary of State Struycken, and supported by the NIP, could mark a major turning point in the management of online gambling in the Netherlands. But their success will depend on how rigorously they are applied, the State’s ability to resist commercial pressures, and the real place given to science and independent expertise in policy-making.