Romania is the latest country to consider new restrictions on locally licensed gambling operators’ ability to advertise their products.

For over a year now, Romanian legislators have been trying to reduce the volume of gambling advertising on local airwaves. In May 2016, members of the opposition National Liberal Party proposed a ban on “audiovisual commercial communications related to games of chance” while limiting gambling adverts to specialty publications and “premises intended for the organization of games of chance.”

Romania’s government is now seriously considering this suggestion, with only the Senate’s final approval standing in the way of the changes becoming the law of the land. But the vagueness of the bill’s language has Romanian-licensed online operators concerned that they will be prohibited from promoting their wares online, even via their own websites.

Lexology reported that parliamentary commissions have issued opinions that the bill’s references to ‘premises’ could be construed to include the websites of Romanian-licensed operators. But these opinions lack the force of law, opening up the possibility that the government could arbitrarily choose at some future date to seek penalties against online operators who advertise via the internet.