Sweden considers shutting down online casinos due the Coronavirus outbreak

Sweden is taking into consideration a temporary shutdown of online casinos, according to reports. The decision comes as a solution to reduce the risk of gambling-related harm during the Coronavirus lockdown.
 

Stricter regulations or complete shutdown?

Swedish Government ministers are taking into account temporarily ceasing the activity of online casinos or applying harsher regulations for online gambling operators. This is one of the negative consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic for the online gambling industry.

Ardalan Shekarabi, minister for Social Security of Sweden, announced earlier this week, that “extraordinary measures” may be applied for the gambling operators that do not protect their customers during this time of increased interest towards online gambling due to the Coronavirus lockdown.
 

Are these new measures beneficial for the industry?

Gustaf Hoffstedt, Sweden’s secretary general of the trade association for online gambling, stated that it isn’t clear yet what the government’s final decision is going to be, whether the online casinos will be shut down or heavily regulated.

The secretary general went on to say that further strict regulatory measures can result in customers trying to reach casino operators that are not licensed. These actions can jeopardize the consumer’s finances, but also the licensed operators that are still in business.

According to Hoffstedt, “Sweden is struggling with low channelization rates when it comes to online casinos, regardless of any possible additional restrictions for Swedish licensed operators”.

Hoffstedt continued with: “To worsen the conditions for the Swedish licensed operators would not be a particularly smart move”.
 

Concerns regarding the potential introduction of these new actions

Fintan Costello, BonusFinder managing director, announced the following statement: “The Swedish government will make a colossal mistake if it chooses to temporarily close down online casino sites in an attempt to protect players”.

He continued by explaining that most online gamblers see black markets as a solution to the heavily regulated online casinos, as black market casinos have more liberal rules. Sweden introduced new casino legislation in January 2019. However, many Swedish players kept turning to black markets as the new measures were too strict regarding bonuses and gambling in general.

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, some European countries already stepped on and took further action. Latvia banned online gambling, while in the United Kingdom, the Gambling Commission restricted VIP schemes for players younger than 25 years old, and in Spain, some 60,000 traders and holders of crypto currency will be receiving tax letters from the Spanish tax regulator AEAT.