The provincial legislator Alejandra Ferrero (UCR) -president of the Together for Change interblock- has recently presented a project that proposes the creation of an Online Gaming Observatory for all platforms with a presence in the province of Córdoba. This project will be discussed next June 24 – from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – at a Working Table THE DANGERS OF ONLINE GAMING (impact on children and adolescents), organized by the Legislature of Córdoba. In relation to the possibilities, goals, scope and ultimate purposes of this project, LNM He spoke with the legislator who is promoting the creation of the Observatory.
Where did this initiative to create the Online Gaming Observatory come from?
-It came to me from a meeting -of the Legislature commission- in which the Ministry of Education denied that young people from Córdoba were betting online, and in which the Lottery, for its part, denied the addiction present in several citizens. From that moment on, it seemed imperative to me to have an organization that could investigate, collect and systematize accurate data on who are the individuals who are currently browsing virtual gaming platforms – social and age segmentation, for example. I think it is necessary to manage serious and responsible statistics that help us – based on the information obtained – to develop preventive public policies or programs focused and directed towards certain sectors of the population affected by this type of addiction – the gambling addiction of betting in virtual media. -..
In this medium, Gabriela Brouwer de Koning and Brenda Austin, also radical legislators, showed strong concern about this issue of online betting. Is this new addiction that affects a part of the citizens a concern shared by all radicalism in Córdoba?
-Clearly the entry into force of the law that enables online betting has opened a floodgate – of access for young people to virtual betting platforms – which has caused us to pay maximum attention to this phenomenon; So yes, we are working together, convinced that digital environments, and these new forms of digital citizenship, force us to update our party (UCR), and to worry about having initiatives on issues that are new, and to fight for a State -and officials- who are present to neutralize damages arising from this new digital present.
Who would be the citizens to whom the Observatory’s activities would be directed?
-The beneficiaries of the Observatory would be all Cordobans, especially children and adolescents.
With what financial resources would it be put into operation?
-The resources with which the Observatory is planned to operate would arise from 20% of the proceeds from the fee paid by platforms authorized to exploit the online betting business.
What would be the ultimate purpose of the Observatory to benefit the citizens of Córdoba?
– The purpose of the Observatory is, as I said at the beginning, to be able to provide, from a serious and responsible organization, the content – the numbers – from which we can work on prevention programs and make serious public policies that combat gambling addiction in our province, being This phenomenon – online betting – something so new. It will be a fundamental tool in order to protect the people of Córdoba in the face of the denial of a reality – by the agencies of the current administration – that already coexists with us; I mean we all know that today many children and teenagers are in virtual casinos for more than 10 hours; So it seems to me that we are forced to face this reality, that we must regulate it, and that we must fight it based on reliable numbers and figures.
What type of professionals would integrate it?
-It would be made up of a member of the Ministry of Education, a member of the Ministry of Children, a member of the Ministry of Addictions, a member of the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents, three legislators – two for the minority and one for the majority -, and a psychopedagogist specializing in digital citizenship and virtual environments.
What companies and institutions should be under the orbit of the Observatory and what would be the requirements that would be formulated for them?
-Well, the companies that would be within the orbit of the Observatory – to be audited, or to monitor them – would be those borrowers authorized to operate on virtual platforms; because we are going to try to combat the illegal ones by blocking their pages. Regarding the work methodology of the observatory, this will arise from the regulation of the law and the plans that arise from within the Observatory once created.
In what time would you like your project to become a reality and start working?
-I would like the Observatory to come into operation as soon as possible, to take into account the urgency of the issue of gambling addiction. Because every day there are children and adolescents who enter this addiction through the vouchers that companies give them. I believe that we should immediately agree between the ruling party and the opposition in combating these weapons of mass destruction that are virtual betting platforms; Ultimately, my desire is that, after this political irresponsibility that the current provincial administration had – of allowing unrestricted entry to online betting platforms -, a degree of maturation will be reached within the legislative body to try to repair the catastrophic damage that occurs with this liberalization of digital betting that today makes children and adolescents in Córdoba easily fall into this harmful behavior of betting virtually. We have to put a face to the issue, humanize it, because behind every click on virtual betting platforms there is a family that gets sick – while losing everything – that needs help. And the officials and the state have to be there to accompany these families in this process, trying to preserve the content of the intellectual capital of the next generations of Cordobans.
