UK online gambling operators face a raft of stiff new rules covering everything from barring minors from using free-play online casinos to a potential ban on credit betting.

On Monday, the UK Gambling Commission released its Review of online gambling, which noted the rapid growth of the UK’s online sector, and the expectation that it will grow from its current 34% of the overall UK gambling market to 50% “over the next few years.”

The UKGC notes that online operators enjoy “a great deal of commercial freedom” compared to land-based operators, who are facing tighter curbs on gambling stakes, prizes and speed of play. But online operators collect “significant amounts of data” on their players, and the UKGC expects online operators to “use the data available to them to identify and minimize gambling-related harm.”

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