Dutch regulator KSA issues media guide on reporting gambling and gambling harm
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA) published a guide for journalists and editors on October 27 on how to report on gambling and gambling harm. It sets out eight points of attention, a list of preferred and discouraged terms, and a short checklist. The KSA says it hopes newsrooms will soon add a help disclaimer to gambling stories, as many already do for stories about suicide.
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Overview
- The KSA published a media guide on reporting gambling and gambling harm on October 27, 2026.
- The guide lists eight points of attention for journalists, from factual framing to neutral images and help information.
- It recommends person-first wording and discourages labels such as "gambler", "problem gambler" and "responsible gambling".
- The KSA hopes a help disclaimer will soon become standard in gambling coverage.
What the guide says
The KSA said gambling regularly appears in the news, and that the way it is covered shapes how the public sees it. The five-page guide was drawn up with journalists, people with lived experience of gambling harm, behavioural experts and researchers, according to the document.
Its eight points ask reporters to keep coverage sober and factual rather than focused on big wins, to consider the role of the gambling industry and its products when describing causes, and to use person-first language such as "someone who experiences gambling harm" instead of "addict" or "gambler". It also asks media to stress that most people do not gamble, to use current statistics, and to choose neutral pictures instead of slot machines or flashing screens, without naming a specific gambling site, product or company.
A word list in the guide discourages terms including "problem gambling", "risky gambling behaviour" and "responsible" or "safe gambling", saying they mask risks that apply to everyone who gambles.
The guide suggests a closing line pointing readers to OpenOverGokken, at www.openovergokken.nl or 0800 24 000 22. The KSA said such a disclaimer is already widely used in reporting on suicide and that it hopes the same will soon apply to gambling.
The guidance follows other recent KSA moves, including its €37.25 million fine against EOD Code for unlicensed gambling.
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Andrea Rivera explores the evolving world of iGaming through the companies trying new things and the markets taking shape around them. An editor at AskSpinner News, Andrea combines research with storytelling, bringing information and perspective to industry analysis without losing the story that makes it worth reading.
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