Originally Posted on Tuesday Dec 22 1:06:00 GMT 2009
Facebook has announced that it will no longer run advertisements for gambling, tobacco and guns. This is a setback for freedom of the Internet, which is already facing censorship in other areas.
This, of course, follows the online gambling industry’s problems following the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. Although the industry does have a champion in Representative Barney Frank, so far no progress has been made in keeping the internet free from Government interference.
President Obama’s administration claims that it supports Internet freedom, but there appears to be little evidence of this. Some would say that they have actually increased their stance against internet gambling by seizing bank accounts which have connections with online gambling.
Facebook, which is used by people all over the world, including New Zealand, may find that people interested in internet gambling may begin to use other networking sites in the future.
