Online gambling ‘self-exclusion standards’ project seeks broader industry input | City, University of London

The Self-exclusion Standards project aims to identify the best practices in online gambling self-exclusion to help maximise the level of player protection, help build a robust process of self-exclusion, and become an effective barrier between players who struggle with controlling their gambling habits and online gambling in general.

It is an initiative led by Dr Margaret Carran, Associate Professor in Law and Associate Dean (Education) at The City Law School, and is sponsored by Casino Guru, an independent online casino resource which aims to provide a fairer and safer experience for players who gamble online (also known as ‘’iGaming’).

To arrive at a solution, the project has taken a comprehensive approach and methodology, that fosters cooperation with industry stakeholders, to create a set of online self-exclusion recommendations that are available for adoption across different jurisdictions.

revious stages included comprehensive research of existing evidence and a series of meetings of 10 international stakeholders with diverse expertise and experience with online self-exclusion.  To this end, the Self-exclusion Standards project is now entering its final stage, where it will explicitly seek broader consultations with online gambling stakeholders.

To this end, the Self-exclusion Standards project is now entering its final stage, where it will explicitly seek broader consultations with online gambling stakeholders.

Ultimately, the project will culminate in a comprehensive paper consisting of the final Code for Online Self-Exclusion Practice that will be publicly available so it can serve as a reference point for the industry and other interested parties. The paper should assist in driving further research in this field, and will also serve as a stepping-stone for broader discussion about self-exclusion processes, and how existing practices can be re-examined and reinvented.

The final stage of the project will seek broader collaboration specifically to obtain valuable and actionable feedback that can be leveraged to provide quality conclusions that help establish a robust set of recommendations, and that are based on the broader knowledge of the industry.

This external feedback should help streamline the project, with the aim of positioning its Code for Online Self-Exclusion Practice firmly in the heart of industry as an efficient and effective tool.

Consultation with stakeholders is now open through to September 10, 2024, with the preliminary findings to be presented at the 14th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues (EASG 2024) held between 10-13 September 2024, and the final code due to be ready in January 2025.

Reflecting on the final stage of the project, Dr. Carran said:

Our draft set of recommendations is based on extensive deliberations of international experts and we believe that it presents the most optimal online self-exclusion code of practice for operators. We now need external feedback to drive inclusion, to gain broader input from all interested stakeholders, including international regulators and the industry to ensure that our final recommendations  could indeed be adopted globally for the benefit of players and the industry alike.

We want to engage the broader industry to increase the impact and benefits of the project. A lot of good work stays on paper or in journals without usage in the real world. We want to change it by actively engaging with the industry.