Italy Tightens Messaging Rules as Gambling Operators Navigate Bonus Restrictions

Italian online gambling operators have been reminded that bonuses remain legal, but talking about them in the wrong way could still breach one of Europe’s strictest advertising regimes.

The warning, issued by Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency, arrives after months of questions from licensed operators and complaints from consumer groups over how gambling companies present offers, rewards and incentives to customers.

At the heart of the dispute is a distinction regulators insist is crucial: a bonus itself is not prohibited, but communications surrounding it can easily cross into territory considered promotional under existing law.

Since 2019, Italy has operated under the Dignity Decree, legislation enforced by the communications regulator AGCOM that imposed a near-total ban on gambling advertising. The measures extended beyond television and print, covering digital channels and eliminating gambling sponsorships across sport.

ADM’s latest guidance seeks to clarify where operators stand. Licensed companies may inform customers about the existence of bonuses and explain how they work, but only in strictly factual terms. Any wording designed to attract participation, create excitement around offers or encourage betting activity remains forbidden.

The agency framed the issue as one of compliance with AGCOM’s established interpretations rather than a change in policy. It also stressed that it does not have the authority to reinterpret communications rules or soften existing restrictions, which continue to rest on AGCOM’s decisions and the Dignity Decree itself.

A Licensing Overhaul Brings Marketing Under Closer Scrutiny

The clarification comes during a period of broader regulatory change. Italy has been operating its revamped online licensing framework since November 2025, with 52 licences currently active under the new regime.

One of the more significant reforms requires operators to conduct business through a single master domain. Regulators see the approach as a way to simplify oversight of marketing activity while limiting the proliferation of secondary brands and skin sites that can complicate enforcement efforts.

The obligation also gives authorities a more concentrated view of customer-facing content, an area attracting increasing scrutiny as operators attempt to balance acquisition strategies with one of Europe’s most restrictive advertising environments.

ADM’s intervention reinforces that informational content remains acceptable, provided it stays within narrow boundaries. Product descriptions, service explanations and bonus conditions may be displayed, but regulators are drawing a firm line against communications that appear designed to persuade consumers to gamble.

That debate is unlikely to disappear soon.

Italy’s advertising ban has become the subject of renewed political discussion, particularly as policymakers continue reshaping the country’s gambling sector. In late 2025, ADM Director General Roberto Alesse publicly argued that the existing rules deserve reconsideration, contending that limiting the visibility of licensed operators has had unintended consequences by giving illegal platforms greater room to compete for consumers’ attention.

AGCOM itself acknowledged lingering uncertainty earlier this year. In May, the regulator opened a review of gambling advertising rules, recognising persistent ambiguities around customer engagement practices and the distinction between neutral information and promotional messaging.

For now, operators remain bound by the existing framework.

A broader reassessment of the Dignity Decree is expected only after the Meloni government’s overhaul of Italy’s land-based gambling sector is completed, a process scheduled to conclude by the end of 2026. Ministers have repeatedly indicated that advertising rules will form part of the final phase of reform, with discussion centred on whether a more balanced regime could preserve consumer protections without placing licensed businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

No legislative proposal has yet emerged, leaving operators to navigate a system in which even describing a bonus requires careful attention to tone, language and presentation.

Source: sbcnews.co.uk

Italy Tightens Messaging Rules as Gambling Operators Navigate Bonus Restrictions

A Licensing Overhaul Brings Marketing Under Closer Scrutiny

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