In the third instalment of the public lecture series, hosted by the University of Gibraltar’s Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming (CERG), Professor Ståle Pallesen discussed Norway’s unique approach to protecting its citizens from gambling harm.

In his lecture titled ‘Norway – A Special Example of Responsible Gambling’, Professor Pallesen began by providing the audience with the necessary context before discussing the potential advantages and disadvantages to Norway’s approach.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Norway experienced a significant increase in the number of electronic gambling machines and thus in the prevalence of gambling problems. To address this emerging problem, Norway chose a unique solution by introducing a gambling monopoly, allowing only two companies to offer gambling. Later these two companies initiated registered gambling, enabling all bets and player history to be recorded and enforced responsible gambling tools, such as mandatory loss limits.

Foreign gambling operators still offer online gambling, but often with no mandatory responsible gambling tools. In order to enforce the gambling monopoly, Norway has decided to ban foreign gambling advertisements and stop all financial transactions involving foreign gambling companies. The government is also contemplating blocking access to all foreign online gambling sites from Norwegian IP-addresses.

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