It seems that the media ban again online poker and gambling ads has been lifted.

The Swedish media has recently been allowed to run ads sponsored by online casino and online poker entities and have not been threatened with prosecution.

Prosecutors in Sweden have been advised to freeze all cases against media bodies that have accepted ads from foreign online casino, gambling and poker operators. In this turn of events, Sweden could see the return of many offshore online casino and poker operators advertising through print ads, bill boards, online ads, radio and even television. These advertising companies would be in direct competition with the Swedish state-sponsored online gaming operator Svenska Spel. 

The Gaming Intelligence Group reported that this change of attitude came from UC Malmo, a department of Sweden’s Prosecution Authority. The decision came in the wake of an appeal made by two Swedish newspapers “Aftonbladet” and “Expressen” who had previously been prosecuted for breaking the lottery law in Sweden. This law prohibited accepting adverts from foreign online casino operators. The two newspapers have been fighting for the past four years to have their charges dropped. 

As part of the appeal process, the editors of the two newspapers sent an open letter to the European Commission head, Charlie Mc Creevy in January of this year. In the letter, the two stressed that the current laws in Sweden did not allow for free movement of trade and services between 27 member states, in the online gambling industry in general, and the online poker and sports betting industries, in particular. This freedom of trade and services is meant to be a basis of EU law. 

After the open letter was published, the Swedish Court of Appeals was asked to examine the case and it later ruled that the Swedish lottery laws were a possible contradiction to European Court pact. 

A spokesperson for one of the appealing newspapers, “Aftonbladet”, said that he was thrilled at the recommendation of UC Malmo. "It seems that the courts in Sweden are finally starting to accept the changes taking place in Europe and in EC Law," he said. He continued that the newspaper is now fighting the fine that was slapped on – SEK 150,000 for each foreign gambling advertisement – which totals nearly 100 million Euros.

Author:  Renee Kingsley