A Look at the Ethical and Social Responsibilities of Online Gaming Companies

When it comes to vices and online gaming that are legal within the society in you live but known to have problematic side-effects that can induce either mental or physical health issues, such as alcohol, cigarettes, or in this case, gambling, it raises an interesting discussion about the responsibilities of those behind it.

Do they have any responsibilities? Some might argue that so long as something is legal, it’s fair game on your ability to profit from it, and while that might be technically accurate, it isn’t something that will do these companies any favors in the eyes of the public. Is it a question of being more of a moral obligation than a legal one?

Safety and Security

The aim here, one could argue, might align with the objectives of the decriminalization of drugs – damage control. If a safe and secure space is offered to people who want to gamble, it might prevent them from seeking out establishments that are less reputable and, therefore, less likely to be able to guarantee the security of their money. People who want to play casino games online having access to venues, such as slotslv, can mean that patrons have safe and trustworthy outlets where they can feel comfortable spending their time.

There is also the counterargument that having access to these venues in the first place is going to drum up the number of people who will be interested in gambling, potentially appealing to crowds and individuals that wouldn’t have bothered otherwise. This is a difficult argument to approach, as once something is legalized, it goes into the realm of ‘supply and demand’, at which point, isn’t it just a fair game? So long as the companies behind these online casinos ensure that the platforms are safe, reliable, secure, and able to offer everything that is expected of them, aren’t they meeting their responsibilities?

Protection from Side-Effects?

Perhaps not. If you feel as though these companies also have a responsibility to address and even mitigate the amount of damage that gambling could do to someone’s life if left unchecked, then you might expect them to go further beyond. Part of the way that gambling works, be it sports betting or slot games, is through the implementation of a lot of appealing, colorful imagery to draw you in – and the gameplay loops themselves when it comes to casino games work in such a way that appeals to those neurotransmitters in the brain, making it addictive by nature.

This can make it very difficult to try and disentangle the core of what gambling is from contradictory messages about how people can do so safely. In many parts of the world, such as the UK, gambling adverts will have a disclaimer that attempts to remind viewers of this – with something along the lines of ‘when the fun stops, stop’ – but it’s easy to feel as though this might only represent a token effort that doesn’t go far enough.

So, what would be enough? Should companies place locks on the amount of time that you can spend on online casinos, forcing you to take breaks or limiting the amount that you can spend? This is something that could divide people – between those who think that this is exactly what they should do and those who think this stifles one’s ability to profit.

A Branch of the Tree

When getting into this discussion, it’s also worth remembering that online gambling companies are only one narrow slice of how gambling functions in society as a whole. Even when it comes to things such as the heavily controversial loot boxes that can be found in some video games (paying real money to generate a randomized reward), you can see that elements of gambling can be found in many different shapes and forms. So, should online gambling companies, those with a dedicated platform, make an effort to lead the charge and inform their users of the damage that repeated exposure to such games can lead to?

This is still something that can feel as though it stands in stark opposition to what their objectives will likely be as a business, and so it becomes difficult to see how they would do that unless their hand was forced, as it is in the case of cigarette companies and the images and warnings that are put on the packets – though this could also be out of liability concerns. To go a step further, government-run online casinos would theoretically be able to include these warnings and issues without fear of financial loss, but dialing back the privatization might be difficult at this point, meaning the first option of mandatory warnings might be more feasible.