Policy Impacts - UK

🇬🇧 UK: Commons Health and Social Care Committee’s non-inquiry session on Gambling-related harms

• April 2025: Referenced by Prof Heather Wardle when answering Q24 during the non-inquiry session on Gambling-related harms (HC 804) of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee: Link; Watch.

🇬🇧 UK: Competition and Markets Authority Invitation to comment: SMS investigations into Apple and Google’s mobile ecosystems

• January 2025: Responded (as Respondent J) to the invitation to comment as to how consumer law should be better enforced using powers granted by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA): Link.

🇬🇧 UK: Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s inquiry on Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms

• December 2024: Cited in the response by Dr Giulia Gentile and Professor Lorna Woods (SMH0038) to the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s inquiry on Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms (p 1, fn 6): Link.

🇬🇧 UK: Loot box advertising (parliamentary questions tabled after my research into loot box advertising on social media, etc.)

• January 2025: Two more questions tabled by Sir Iain Duncan Smith on gambling advertising in children’s games and failures to disclose loot box presence:

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-01-29/27091

  2. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-01-29/27092

• January 2025: The BBC investigation on the illegal advertising of loot boxes replicating my research method was referenced in a Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee debate: DLC Deb (Draft Gambling Levy Regulations 2025) 29 January 2025, col 7.

• December 2024: Lord Foster of Bath aska another question on illegal loot box advertising following the BBC report:

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-12-10/hl3347

• October 2024: Lord Foster of Bath asks another question regarding loot box advertising compliance:

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-10-08/hl1384

• July 2024: Lord Foster of Bath tabled another question following further actions taken by the Advertising Standards Authority that followed my complaints; I also ensured that the answer given was quickly corrected when it provided inaccurate facts: 

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-07-30/hl501

• April 2024: Lord Foster of Bath asked a further question on the UK industry self-regulation of loot boxes citing the upheld advertising complaints I made against members of the industry working group convened by the Government:

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-15/hl3734

• March 2024: Lord Foster of Bath tabled two questions in Parliament asking (I) what more can be done about illegal advertising of video games without disclosing loot box presence and (ii) whether it is appropriate for certain companies to remain on the industry self-regulation working group convened by the Government when they have broken advertising regulations:

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-03-20/hl3447

  2. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-03-20/hl3448

🇬🇧 Gambling Related Harm APPG and Peers for Gambling Reform Gambling White Paper Inquiry

• January and February 2024: Following the evidence session, a total of 11 parliamentary questions were tabled in Parliament by four major UK political parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party) on compliance, enforcement, research, and law reform: 

  1. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-26/15717

  2. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-19/hl2537

  3. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-01/hl2124

  4. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-01/hl2125

  5. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-02-01/12653

  6. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12455

  7. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12454

  8. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12453

  9. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12222

  10. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12221

  11. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-31/12220

• January 2024: Invited to present and comment on loot box regulation before MPs and Peers: Link.

🇬🇧 UK Gambling Commission: Gambling Regulation

• May 2023: Cited in relation to cryptocurrency gambling when recognising ‘Illegal gambling and crime’ as an evidence theme that should be given priority when developing the evidence base: Link.

🇬🇧 UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons’ Inquiry on Gambling Regulation

• 21 December 2023: Cited in the Committee report in relation to how industry self-regulation of loot boxes must be treated with scepticism due to my previous empirical research finding poor compliance (p. 27, para. 60): Link.

• February 2023: Drafted an evidence submission (GAM0025 - Gambling regulation) containing policy recommendations: PDF File and HTML File.

🇬🇧 Northern Ireland All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling Inquiry

• June 2024: Quoted and cited extensively in the Inquiry Report section on loot boxes (pp. 29–31): Link.

• April 2023: Presented on loot box regulation before members of the All Party Group at the Northern Ireland Assembly: Link.

• January 2023: Drafted an evidence submission containing policy recommendations: Link.

🇬🇧 UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons’ Inquiry on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the Blockchain

• November 2022: Drafted an evidence submission (NFT0002 - Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the blockchain) containing policy recommendations: PDF File and HTML File.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Public Health Wales Gambling Health Needs Assessment

• October 2022: My encyclopedia entry on loot boxes was cited in the report: Gambling Health Needs: Assessment for Wales [and in Welsh: Asesiad Anghenion Iechyd: Hapchwarae ar gyfer Cymru] (p 18).

🇬🇧 UK Government’s Video Games Research Framework

• October 2022: Presented comments on the need to conduct empirical assessments of the effectiveness of adopted regulatory policies (e.g., the Children’s Code and other countries’ consumer protection measures) and qualitative research in general; the importance of adopting open science principles; and practical difficulties personally experienced with copyright law and fair dealing with data sharing.

• February 2023: Provided further comments on and proposed drafting language for newly added sections concerning data sharing, fair dealing, and copyright law.

🇬🇧 UK Technical Working Group on the Industry Self-Regulation of Loot Boxes

• September 2022: Invited by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to advise on academic research and policy implementation, taking into account the comparative regulatory experience of other countries.

• September 2022: Attended a working group meeting considering academic perspectives and gave a presentation on suboptimal compliance with loot box probability disclosure industry self-regulation.

• September 2022: Conducted a secondary analysis of data on the UK industry’s compliance with self-regulation: Link.

• October 2022: My research was referenced by the UK Government in the House of Lords to support its adopted self-regulatory position (Hansard: HL Deb 13 Oct 2022, vol 824, col 890).

• January 2023: Attended a second meeting during which I shared new research results and provided comments on draft policy documents following the meeting.

🇬🇧 UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s Call for Evidence on the Review of the Gambling Act 2005

• March 2021: Drafted an evidence submission on correctly interpreting Section 6(6) of the Gambling Act 2005 and identifying how the House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry was incorrect in its interpretation of the law and made legally impossible policy recommendations (HL Paper 79, p 115, para 446): Link.

• Baroness Barran, answering a House of Lords question, agreed with our interpretation: HL12486.

🇬🇧 UK Advertising Standards Authority’s, Committee of Advertising Practice’s, and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice’s Consultation on the Draft Guidance on Advertising In-game Purchases

• January 2021: Drafted an evidence submission containing empirical data and policy recommendations: Link.

• 20 September 2021: The finalised Guidance was published: our response concerning probability disclosures and limited time offers was paraphrased (Consultation Response Evaluation, pp 4 & 15). Our policy recommendation of requiring loot box probability disclosures was not adopted, but my legal analysis as to how the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 apply was accepted, and my drafting recommendations were incorporated into the revised Guidance (pp 9–10).

🇬🇧 UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s Call for Evidence on Loot Boxes in Video Games

• November 2020: Drafted an evidence submission containing empirical data and policy recommendations: Link.

• 17 July 2022: The Government response was published: my paper was cited in footnote 15 to support the adopted self-regulatory approach, and our evidence submission and empirical data concerning suboptimal probability disclosures and potential contraventions of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 were incorporated into paragraphs 167, 202–207 and 217.

• My paper was repeatedly cited in the independent rapid evidence assessment of the academic literature and empirical studies on loot boxes commissioned by the Government (pp 10, 18, 22, 23, 26, 42, & 43).