Italy’s communications regulator AGCOM has tightened its expectations for responsible gambling campaigns, warning licensed operators against using celebrities, betting tipsters or familiar promotional techniques in content presented as player-protection messaging.
The guidance applies to operators active in Italy’s newly reorganised online gambling market, which is supervised by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM). AGCOM wants to ensure that safer gambling initiatives remain clearly separated from ordinary commercial advertising and are not used as an indirect route to promote betting brands.
Under the regulator’s approach, operators should avoid placing celebrities or other public figures already closely associated with their brands at the centre of responsible gambling campaigns. AGCOM believes such endorsements could weaken the educational purpose of the material and contribute to the normalisation of gambling rather than highlighting its risks.
The authority has also made clear that responsible gambling communications should not include familiar commercial slogans, promotional taglines or other branding elements capable of turning prevention material into indirect advertising. The player-protection message must remain more prominent than the identity of the operator behind it.
AGCOM is particularly cautious about very short advertising formats, including billboards, brief video clips and certain television graphics. According to the regulator, these formats may not give operators enough space or time to communicate meaningful information about gambling risks and harm prevention.
The updated approach also reflects wider European work on identifying potentially harmful gambling behaviour. Italy has referenced standards built around markers of harm designed to detect risky or problematic online gambling patterns at an earlier stage. UNI, Italy’s national standardisation body, confirmed that the UNI EN 18144:2025 standard establishes structured markers intended to support earlier identification and prevention of gambling-related harm.
AGCOM is also preparing closer scrutiny of betting-related content on social media. Particular attention will be paid to tipsters who promote supposedly successful betting strategies, predictive systems or similar services. Although such accounts may operate independently from licensed bookmakers, the regulator wants online platforms to take stronger action where their content directs users towards illegal or unauthorised gambling services.
Italy’s underlying advertising restrictions remain unchanged. Article 9 of the 2018 Dignity Decree prohibits direct and indirect advertising for gambling and betting involving monetary prizes across television, radio, print, sporting and cultural events, digital services and social media. The legislation also extended the prohibition to gambling sponsorships from January 2019, subject to limited exceptions.
Responsible gambling and public-information campaigns can still operate within the framework, but AGCOM is drawing a firmer boundary between genuine harm-prevention communication and material that effectively markets an operator.
Despite repeated debate over reforming Italy’s gambling advertising rules, the government has not yet replaced the Dignity Decree restrictions. The issue remains linked to the wider restructuring of the Italian gambling sector and discussions over additional financial contributions from betting operators to domestic sport.
Sports Minister Andrea Abodi is meanwhile working on proposals intended to provide additional funding for Italian football, including a possible 2% contribution linked to football betting revenues. The plan is expected to form part of discussions surrounding Italy’s 2027 budget, adding another regulatory issue for betting companies already adjusting to the country’s new licensing regime.