Facebook, Google and Apple are cited by the UK’s Gambling Commission for encouraging children as young as four to play gambling games, reports the national newspaper The Daily Telegraph in a damning report on Saturday.
The internet giants offer free slots, roulette and poker games on mobile phones and computers, encouraging children to buy "extras" and risk running up huge debts on unwary parents’ credit cards. The chairman of the Gambling Commission, Tim Miller, writes in the newspaper expressing concern that the internet companies are risking "normalising" gambling for a whole generation of children.
Apple has 200 casino games available and rated suitable for children aged 12 and up with others considered appropriate for children from the age of four. Google offers 250 casino games and Facebook over 70.
