Facebook is the premiere provider of social games. The platform offers players around the world a vast collection of fun titles that can be shared with friends; however, there are concerns that these games could encourage underage gambling.
According to NewsTalk ZB, many cases of underage gambling begin on the internet. Although sites like Facebook do not require players to spend any money in order to play, many of the titles are based on casino games (ie. Zynga Poker, Double Down Casino). Children have access to these play-money casino games, which exposes them to gambling.
Additionally, play-money games can be more harmful than actual casino games. Since players do not lose real cash, inexperienced gamblers may develop unrealistic perceptions about gambling.
“They often get onto Facebook,” says Dr. Sean Sullivan. “There’s a huge amount of gambling available on there and it’s called gaming”.
Many recent studies in New Zealand have shown that simply exposing children to gambling can lead to their development of gambling problems later on in life. As such, social games inadvertently contribute to the problem.