Apple pulls gambling apps from Swedish App Store
Apps from a dozen operators including William Hill, Betsson and Unibet removed by Apple due to internal concerns of promoting products from unlicensed gambling operators
Apple has removed gambling apps belonging to a dozen major egaming firms from its Sweden-facing App Store after a letter from the regulator highlighted the possibility of terms and conditions violations due to “unlicensed” operators.
The Swedish Gambling Authority (Lotteriinspektionen) sent Apple what it described as an “informative letter” the week commencing 16 February and apps from major operators including William Hill, Betfair, bet365 and Unibet have since been removed.
A spokesperson for the regulator confirmed the letter had been sent but was keen to stress that no formal complaint had been made and that the decision to pull the apps was entirely Apple’s.
“The letter was sent to try and verify the terms and conditions and from that they have moved in the direction they chose,” the spokesperson said. “We have no legal proceedings with Apple whatsoever but it’s in line with the Swedish regulation as we currently see it,” the spokesperson added.
Apple’s terms and conditions state gambling apps “must have necessary licensing and permissions in the locations where the App is used”.
Apple is believed to have removed apps operated by the following companies; Betfair, Unibet, Betsson, Cassava Enterprises (888), ElectraWorks (bwin.party), bet365, Co-Gaming, William Hill, Rational Group (PokerStars and Full Tilt), Casino Saga, LeoVegas and PAF.
It is not yet known whether the removal is on a permanent or temporary basis but operators are believed to be communicating with Apple and the regulator via industry body the Association of Online Gambling Operators in Sweden.
“At Unibet we have no criticism of Apple which is a global multinational company and understands fully the complexity of various regulations and has internal policies which emphasise that,” Peter Alling, Nordics public affairs manager at Unibet, said.
“Swedish national gambling regulations can’t be implemented to meet the national objectives but decisions are now made outside Sweden by private entities based on their policies and objectives,” he added.
The news comes after Apple recently pulled a number of gambling apps from its UK App Store following what was described as an “admin error”.
In January apps belonging to operators such as Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral, Paddy Power and Betfred were all removed but were later reinstated in time for upcoming football fixtures.