Will Prochaska

The alcohol, gambling & junk food industries have no place providing educational materials to schools

58 leading academics & orgs have urged Education Sec.
@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social to follow Ireland’s lead - removing these materials from classrooms

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

YouTube video by Led By Donkeys UK Lawyers for Israel

🚨UK Lawyers for Israel Ltd has tried to silence various voices supporting Palestine. Their charitable wing has made public statements rejecting international law.

Activist Em Hilton is on the Charity Commission offices to ask for an investigation.

youtu.be/Ui70R8PCkJ4

I reacted to BBC File on 4's investigation into the failure of gambling venues to protect customers - which won't be a surprise to anyone except apparently the Government and the Regulator.

Government policy is to grow the gambling industry.

That means more addiction and more suicide.

Time for a rethink.

- @endgamblingads.bsky.social & @mzc.bsky.social

“Nobody wants gambling on the highstreet”

@willprochaska.bsky.social speaking at the Reducing Harm: Public Health in Gambling and Addition panel

Guardian article with photo of large white SUV taking up a full parking space width no space to exit the car. Headline “more than a million cars sold in UK each year too big to fit typical parking space.” Sub heading “Campaign network calls on Government to prioritise smaller cars and introduce higher charges for SUVs”

Large SUVs are too big for parking spaces and dangerously heavy in crashes - time to bring in weight and size based charges?

“In 2024, a record 1,213,385 cars wider than 1.8 metres were sold.”

It's such a joke that the gambling lobby say they make billions for the economy. Where are those billions coming from? Often the pockets of poor & addicted people. Where do those billions go? Into the pockets of exploitative gambling execs. 💸👎🏻

Everton, Leicester accused of breaching guidelines by advertising unlicensed gambling firms Neither club responded directly to the accusation but maintain they are confident they are complying with the regulations.

What is going on? Everton and Leicester City continue to advertise unlicensed gambling sites despite the Gambling Commissioning threatening prosecution that could result in imprisonment for officers of the clubs.

CEGA's investigation reported in The Athletic.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/621...

Dropped into House of Commons for @chapterone-uk.bsky.social launching as a national provider addressing gambling harm.

Good to catch @sianberry.bsky.social @mzc.bsky.social and @willprochaska.bsky.social to plan ways of tackling gambling adverts on public transport and in betting shop windows.

Today we’re launching Chapter One as a national provider of gambling harm prevention for everyone affected by gambling across the UK with an event in the @ukhouseofcommons.bsky.social

Thank you to our speakers for today’s event

The Red/Blue, Labour-Tory team lines up to continue #GamblingHarm in football

@gamblingwithlives.bsky.social @endgamblingads.bsky.social

📢 BREAKING:
An investigation by CEGA has found illegal gambling websites promoted by
@evertonfc.com and Leicester City FC are still easily accessible to British Consumers, a month after the Gambling Commission warned them of potential prosecution if found to be the case...

Learning from tobacco control to tackle gambling industry harms The use of tobacco industry tactics by the gambling and other health harming industries means governments must act to prevent large scale avoidable harm, argue May van Schalkwyk and colleagues When ...

Today my colleagues & I sent a letter of concern to the minister for gambling. The evidence shows clearly that the gambling industry is a vector of harm, not a partner. We urge the government to change their position. www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Suppressing the negative impact of the gambling industry in parliament after taking hospitality from the gambling lobby leaves questions to answer.

I think this is potentially quite serious for Stephanie Peacock.

As ever - hats off to
@privateeyenews.bsky.social

Gambling ads: a no brainer for a national ban? - Adfree Cities Given the harms caused by gambling, and the risk of children becoming addicted, why is gambling advertising such a Wild West? Adfree Cities's Charlotte Gage has been finding out why regulation isn’t w...

Great news that #Sheffield City Council have introduced a Gambling Harms Prevention Strategy including a clear understanding of the harmful impact of advertising & marketing - a national ban on all gambling ads would really support this
@endgamblingads.bsky.social @gamblingwithlives.bsky.social

Betting giants spared regulatory action after secret deals with watchdog Controversial ‘special measures’ regime under fire after failures were not made public

The secrecy of special measures that allows operators, like Betfair, to avoid regulatory action is completely inadequate and allows for deaths to occur. I have now launched a judical review claim to challange the GC's decision not to investigate Betfair.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

In shock news, gambling industry use same strategy as tobacco industry

This excellent analysis sets out how this happens and why that matters

UK slot machine operator fined over cancer patient’s activity Gambling regulator fines Merkur Slots almost £100,000 for failings at one of its ‘adult gaming centres’

Merkur slots fined £100k for their exploitation of my terminally ill mum.
It doesn't go far enough, but it's a start.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Haringey are the first council in the UK to join the Coalition to End Gambling Ads!

Councillor @ldasneves.bsky.social explained to Eddie Nestor on BBC London why they've taken a stand for the health of their citizens, and why society can choose to 'permit but not promote' gambling.

Ending gambling adverts could prevent harm to millions of adults and children in the UK A phased approach to ending gambling advertising could reduce the damage caused by this health harming industry, write Kevin Fenton and Will Prochaska The harm caused by gambling in the UK is alarmi...

www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Ending gambling adverts could prevent harm to millions of adults and children in the UK

Very much this

Tell me why this isn't the most no brainer of no brainers!!

@profkevinfenton.bsky.social @endgamblingads.bsky.social

The Faculty of Public Health @fphuk.bsky.social have joined @adphuk.bsky.social and @rsph.bsky.social as members of CEGA to call for an End to Gambling Ads.

@profkevinfenton.bsky.social and @willprochaska.bsky.social write in @bmj.com on why and how to achieve it.

www.bmj.com/content/388/...

How gambling ads target kids' phone games Advertising regulator and Apple launch investigations as to how gambling ads are appearing on children’s games

If you have kids, the chances are they play those free phone games you can download from the app store.

Do you monitor what they see while they are playing? Perhaps you should. My latest investigation.

inews.co.uk/news/how-gam...

screenshot of an Instagram post featuring a clipping from the Telegraph newspaper.

A shocking example of gambling advertising using sexualised content to push gambling amongst a young audience.

Hats off to @endgamblingads.bsky.social for calling this out.

Listen to our podcast episode on gambling ads with CEGA's Will Prochaska: shows.acast.com/better-witho...

Gambling ad featuring porn star Bonnie Blue prompts call for crackdown Campaigners urge culture secretary to censor social media video featuring ‘sexualised content’

Porn stars used to promote gambling to children over social media - what could wrong?

Covered in the Telegraph, our letter to Lisa Nandy lays out how the system of advertising regulation in the UK isn't fit for purpose.

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Greentube Alderney Limited to pay £1m for regulatory failures Online gambling business Greentube Alderney Limited, trading as Admiral Casino, is to pay £1 million after a Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

Anyone with an Admiral Slots venue on their high street could have told the Gambling Commission the company is socially irresponsible. A £1m fine is paltry, they should have had their licence revoked.

www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article...

327K views · 4.3K comments | It's time to get back to our roots around free expression. We're replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on... | By Mark Zucker... It's time to get back to our roots around free expression. We're replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on...

This is a really interesting & significant intervention. For the last 20 years, US tech companies were moving in only one direction on the trade off between safety & free speech: towards safer platforms. Now Meta & X are moving back towards free speech.
www.facebook.com/zuck/videos/...

YouTube video by Institute of Alcohol Studies Alcohol and Cancer: Explained

Alcohol can cause cancer even at low levels of drinking, as the US Surgeon General's recent report states.

That is why it is so important for people to have the information to make informed decisions.

Our cancer film with Professor Linda Bauld explains more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAJ8...

I thought conflicts of interest in gambling policy were bad - but it looks like the food industry takes the biscuit. (sorry for the Christmas cracker level pun)

Shocking stuff exposed by Chris van Tulleken

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

The gambling industry doesn't want people gambling on the lower risk products, it wants to entice people in & move them over to the highly profitable, highly addictive products

Hear more from @willprochaska.bsky.social of the Coalition to
@endgamblingads.bsky.social: www.ias.org.uk/podcast/gamb...

Think what you will of graffiti - sometimes it captures local sentiment perfectly.