CopyBet has joined the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the standards body that represents around 90% of the regulated gambling industry in the UK.

Launched in 2016, CopyBet allows users to copy the bets made by others on the platform, which also includes tipsters rankings based on both their recent betting performance and profitability.

The firm, which operates under a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence and also holds a Class B bookmaker license in Cyprus, supports both pre-match and in-play betting markets.

Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC, stated: “We are thrilled to welcome CopyBet as a member of our expanding and diverse membership at the BGC. We look forward to collaborating with CopyBet, and all our members, as we work together to raise standards across the industry.”

Integrity is key
The news comes not long after Coybet was welcomed by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) as its newest member.

CopyBet now feeds integrity data from its online betting platform into IBIA’s global monitoring network, joining more than 80 companies operating over 140 sports betting brands with a total handle of $300bn per year.

The operator has been working to enhance its brand visibility over recent years, including through several sports sponsorships. This association with sports betting may have influenced the firm in deciding to take a more active role in integrity.

Currently, the brand is the official front-of-shirt sponsor of EFL’s Queens Park Rangers FC, as well as the partner of several Cyprian football teams such as AEK Larnaca, PΑC Omonia 29M, Enosis Neon Paralimni and Aris Limassol.

It also made its racing debut last year as sponsor of the November Racing Weekend at Ascot. Meanwhile, Irish jockey Jonathan Burke is also a CopyBet brand ambassador.

Anton Ivanov, Business Development Director of CopyBet UK, said of the firm joining the BGC: “CopyBet is pleased to announce its membership of the BGC. We look forward to working with other members to help raise industry standards further and create a culture of safer betting.”

Black market concerns loom
As the BGC continues to prioritise player safety, earlier this month, the group commissioned research which has sparked several fears that a tax increase on online gambling in the UK would make customers turn to unregulated betting sites.

Remote activities are currently hit at 21% of operator profit, while General Betting Duty is taxed at 15% of profit and Pool Betting Duty at 15% of net stake receipts. The rate of the potential new Betting & Gaming Duty (BGD) is not yet clear.

The BGC warned that this shift could not only fail to generate more tax revenue but also jeopardise player safety, as well as severely impact the financial health of sports, particularly horse racing.

Hurst said: “It’s clear it will not raise more tax, it simply risks forcing huge numbers of customers out of the regulated market, with its world leading standards on player safety, into the arms of the growing, illegal, unregulated and unsafe gambling black market online.”

“Any tax rises would make a mockery of the Government’s growth strategy and be catastrophic for horseracing, which is already facing a bleak financial outlook.”

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) are highly concerned about the amount of players are getting online following a season-wide report.

The duo are now calling on the betting industry to take action, with the study’s findings – taken from Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service – detailing that angry gamblers sent 40% of all detected abuse across the year. Meanwhile, 10 prolific accounts (majority being angry-gambler related) were responsible for 12% of abuse.

Action-orientated approach
Signify uses AI and human analysts and operates across all the major social media platforms in over 40 languages. All players competing in WTA Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour events are covered by the service.

Jonathan Hirshler, Signify CEO, said: “This unique dataset, covering all players across international tennis tours and Grand Slams, illustrates that a relatively small number of accounts are responsible for a significant proportion of prolific abuse and trolling.”

Between January – December last year,1.6 million posts and comments were analysed by the service, with analysts verifying around 8,000 posts/comments sent from 4,200 accounts as abusive, violent or threatening.

The group assured that action has been taken against the most serious and prolific of these, including 15 accounts escalated to law enforcement. A lot of the abuse players receive has been thrust into the spotlight following the French Open this weekend.

A BBC Sport report has highlighted the extent of abuse received by Katie Boulder, 39th ranked women’s singles player, who believes that a lot of online hate she received after losing a tie-break at the French Open came from people who had lost bets on her game.

Looking back over 2024, Signify’s data shows that 458 players faced direct threats or abusive messages. A significant portion (26%) was directed at just five players, while 97 high-activity accounts were behind 23% of the total abuse recorded.

Hirshler continued: “While this is deeply distressing for the athletes targeted, it means that we are able to be even more focused working with the platforms to ensure successful take down, support the tennis bodies to drive law enforcement intervention for the most egregious accounts and work with event security teams to ensure prolific abusers are unable to attend tournaments.”

Of the aforementioned 15 cases, three of these were submitted to the FBI and 12 to other national law enforcement bodies. Account details have also been shared with event security teams to ban individuals from access to venues/tickets.

Constructive dialogue is key
To stop this type of abuse occurring in the first place, tennis authorities argue that betting operators, social media platforms, governing bodies, players and law enforcers all have a responsibility to make the online space safer.

A spokesperson for the ITF emphasised: “We hope the gambling industry responds constructively to our call for more action on their part.”

The Threat Matrix service also looks at abusive direct messages, emails or letters and 56 reports of this type of communication were reported by 28 players – angry gamblers were 77% of these.

The service is currently upscaling to include social media moderation, which hides online hate in real time across the majority of platforms.

Jessica Pegula, Member of the WTA Players’ Council, concluded: “Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure. I welcome the work that the WTA and ITF are doing with Threat Matrix to identify and take action against the abusers, whose behavior is so often linked to gambling.

“But it’s not enough on its own. It’s time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source and act to protect everyone facing these threats.”

Online abuse in tennis has been an ongoing issue for some time since the rise of social media over the past decade. In 2024, Sportradar, a firm which works closely with many betting operators, got involved in tennis’ athlete protection initiatives via a deal with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and the ATP Tour.

The firm launched Safe Sport, which is a service now utilised to address online abuse targeting professional athletes through the use of artificial intelligence moderation, education and investigation. It was made available to the top 250 ATP singles players and the top 50-ranked doubles players on a free and opt-in basis.

Concerns over the extent of online harassment some athletes face as a result of lost bets are nothing new. Over in the US, this month Signify also teamed up with the NCAA to study online abuse sparked by sports betting.

The pair used the 2025 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to identify and study targeted online abuse directed at student-athletes, coaches, officials and committee members. In looking at a total of 1 million posts and comments, 54,096 flagged for potential abuse by AI – 3,161 of which were then officially identified as abusive.

The Church of Romania is taking an active part in shaping the country’s national problem gambling strategy.

Olivia Nicoleta Vișan, Programme Coordinator at the Filantropia Federation of the Romanian Patriarchate, and Archimandrite Casian Filip, Vicar of the Diocese of Maramureș and Sătmar, both took part in a roundtable discussion that launched the “National Strategy for the Prevention and Treatment of Gambling Addiction”.

Led by the Romanian Committee for Culture, Communication, and Media (CCCM), the meeting was also attended by representatives from the National Agency for Drug and Addiction Policies (ANPCDA), as well as the regulator – the National Gambling Office (ONJN).

Besides speaking on behalf of the Church, Archimandrite Filip contributed to the conversation by leveraging his experience as a specialised advisor in the field of addictions and behavioural disorders.

The bottom line of the meeting was to devise a strategy on how to effectively coordinate between ministries, politicians, authorities, the clergy, experts, NGOs, and the gambling sector, when subsidising efforts to combat problem gambling rates in the country.

Cristian Niculescu-Țăgârlaș, Chair of the Senate’s CCCM, said: “I believe the cultural and educational dimension of the Strategy is essential. The Church, culture, media, and education can become powerful tools for prevention and support for young people and vulnerable groups.”

Speaking to the various stakeholders present at the event, President of the ONJN, Vlad Cristian Soare, reminded that the regulator collects around €11m in tax per year from the gambling sector, and reinstated its commitment – now strengthened by the new strategy – to direct these funds into prevention, self-exclusion, and gambling harm research initiatives.

“For me, these are a priority. I want an active, transparent and responsible ONJN, and for this we need everyone: public authorities, specialists, organisers and civil society. Only together can we transform social responsibility into a reality and provide support to those who have real need,” Soare added.

Archimandrite Filip fully welcomed both the CCCM’s and the ONJN’s extended hands, adding that the Church plays a vital role in community wellbeing, guiding individuals and their families through hardships.

Wider reforms on the way
Gambling in Romania is currently at a crossroads, with the Save Romania Party (USR) pushing for a total restructuring of regulations, one of which being an updated self-exclusion framework.

Matters reached a boiling point earlier this year when an independent audit of the ONJN found that the regulator failed to collect around €900m in taxes between 2019 and 2023.

Their audit further unveiled that the self-exclusion system that is meant to be managed centrally by the ONJN was not properly implemented across licensed gambling operators, leading to serious concerns about the actual rate of problem gamblers in the country.

The subsequent fallout saw a change in ONJN leadership, with former President Gheorghe-Gabriel Gheorghe stepping down and Soare taking over his duties.

USR is now pushing for an abolishment of the ONJN as a result, and a transfer of supervision duties to the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF).

On top of that there are also calls to increase the turnover tax for gambling operators to 20%, which are currently being reviewed by Parliament.

Tabcorp has been hit by a AU$4m (€2.3m) penalty for breaching Australian spam laws while also facing political scrutiny for a recent plan to shake up how it works with the country’s pub industry.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issued the penalty after Tabcorp sent 5,700 marketing messages to its VIP programme customers, something which the regulator states broke Australian spam laws.

Australia’s Spam Act 2023 requires businesses to have customer consent before sending out any marketing messages. The ACMA states that enforcing this requirement is one of its key priorities, having issued AU$16.9m (€9.6m) worth of penalties for breaches of the Act over the past 18 months.

The ACMA’s investigation found that 2,598 SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to VIP customers between 1 February-1 May 2024 did not have an option to unsubscribe, 3,148 other messages did not contain ‘adequate sender information’, and 11 SMS messages sent between 15 February-29 April 2024 were also sent without consent.

“This is the first time the ACMA has investigated and found spam breaches in a gambling VIP programme,” said Authority Member Samantha Yorke.

“These programmes often involve personalised messages offering incentives such as bonus bets, deposit matching, rebates and offers of tickets to sporting and other events.

“The gambling industry needs to understand that spam laws apply to all direct marketing — whether it’s generic campaigns or personalised messages.”

Pub plans get political
Tabcorp is also facing pressure from the political scene, although the most vocal political voice around its newly unveiled plans to change how it works with the Australian pub industry is a key gambling law reform proponent – so his comments are not anything new.

Quoted in an article in The Guardian, which he shared on X, independent Australian Senator and former member of the Australian national rugby union team, Dave Pocock, argued that gaming firms have been ‘emboldened’ by government inaction.

He was referring to Tabcorp’s plans to replace payments made to Australian pubs and hotels which include its gaming machines in their venues with a promotions scheme designed to attract more customers to said venues.

“The Albanese Govt’s failure to act almost 2 yrs after the Murphy review’s 31 reccs were released means companies like Tabcorp are emboldened & exploiting regulatory loopholes on things that cause huge harm like gambling inducements,” Pocock wrote on X, adding that these inducements are ‘hurting’ Australians.

The Albanese Govt’s failure to act almost 2 yrs after the Murphy review’s 31 reccs were released means companies like Tabcorp are emboldened & exploiting regulatory loopholes on things that cause huge harm like gambling inducements, hurting more 🇦🇺shttps://t.co/tsYZPuNbvJ

— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) June 15, 2025

The Murphy review cited by Pocock was, as its name suggests, a review of Austrian gambling regulations and legislation conducted by the late Peta Murphy MP, also a proponent of gaming law reform. This review made 31 recommendations, including a ban on inducements.

However, the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese temporarily shelved the review’s recommendations ahead of the May general election. Some commentators believed this was due to the government not wanting to risk a potential public showdown with the industry prior to voters going to the polls.

With the Albanese government now firmly back in the driving seat, having won the election with 34.5% of the vote, reform proponents now want to see real change at the federal level around how Australia regulates betting marketing, promotions and player protection.

Pocock summarised a viewpoint held by many politicians: “Research shows inducements have contributed enormously to children and young people believing that gambling is a risk-free and normal part of enjoying sport, which is the exact association we should be working to break.”

Nicola Jaques, Dominic Harrison and Matt Gaskell, three of Britain’s leading figureheads in gambling harms prevention have been awarded MBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Each recipient has played a distinct role in pushing forward new thinking and structural change in how British authorities view and tackle problem gambling harms. The trios work spans clinical delivery, lived experience advocacy and governance core pillars in the wider effort to reduce gambling harm across British communities.

Jaques: lived experience to understand biggest harms
Nicola Jaques, Chair of the GambleAware Lived Experience Council, was recognised for her work amplifying the voices of those directly affected by gambling addiction. As chair, she has helped establish lived experience as a cornerstone of national policy development and programme design.

“I am deeply honoured to receive the MBE on behalf of GambleAware’s Lived Experience Council,” she said. “This award is a powerful acknowledgement of the wider gambling harms sector’s role in driving meaningful change.”

Jaques underlined the importance of education, systemic reform and collaboration with those impacted.

She also singled out the Beacon Counselling Trust and the National Gambling Support Network for adopting whole-family and community-based models of care. “Supporting education programmes and encouraging system change will always be at the heart of my commitment to this cause,” she added.

Harrison: Pioneer of GamCare comprehensive support
Dominic Harrison, a trustee of GamCare and Chair of its Audit Committee, was also recognised for his long-standing contribution to the sector. With senior roles in Ladbrokes and Gala Coral on his CV, Harrison brought commercial acumen and oversight to one of the UK’s most critical support providers.

“Dominic has brought compassion and common sense to the charity’s vital work,” said GamCare Chair Margot Daly. “This recognition is also a tribute to the frontline teams who deliver support services every day.”

Harrison’s tenure has coincided with a sharp increase in GamCare’s capacity, now reaching tens of thousands of individuals annually through its national helpline, treatment network and digital tools.

Gaskell: The Architect of NHS gambling clinics
Matt Gaskell, Consultant Psychologist and founder of the NHS Northern Gambling Service, was awarded for pioneering the NHS’s direct intervention model. Since 2019, he has expanded the service to six hubs across the North of England, integrating clinical care into the public health system.

“This award recognises that gambling harm is a public health crisis of our time,” Gaskell said. “I dedicate this to all those affected by preventable gambling-related harm.”

Gaskell, who also advises government and helped author national clinical guidelines, has been vocal in calling out the commercial practices of the gambling sector, arguing for regulation that puts population health above profit.

Dr Sara Munro, Chief Executive of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, praised Gaskell’s contribution. “Matt’s work has saved lives. He has been instrumental in building the NHS Northern Gambling Service into a model of care and a driver of policy reform.”

Gambling Harms enters new strategy
The honours come as the UK’s gambling harm framework enters a transition period. Since April, a new national strategy has been rolled out under the joint direction of the NHS and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), aimed at scaling public health-led interventions.

However, the long-term role of third-party services—including charities and community-led groups—remains unresolved. The NHS and OHID have yet to publish a formal proposal detailing how non-NHS providers will be governed or funded under the new system.

As policy shifts continue, the work of Jaques, Harrison and Gaskell underscores the critical role of joined-up leadership combining clinical rigour, governance and lived experience to tackle one of the UK’s most pressing behavioural health challenges.