Your responsibility for affiliates: GB operator compliance

In Great Britain, an operator answers for what its affiliates publish. The Gambling Commission makes that a licence requirement through Social Responsibility (SR) code 1.1.2, and the ASA holds operators primarily responsible for affiliate ads under the CAP Code. If an affiliate breaks the rules in your name, your licence is exposed, whether or not you saw the page first.

This guide sets out the GB rules that reach affiliate marketing, what each one asks of you, and what to require of your affiliates in return. Everything here was read on the Commission's, ASA's and legislation.gov.uk's own pages in October 2026. Other markets are summarised at the end.

The core rule: SR code 1.1.2

SR code 1.1.2 applies to all licences. It makes licensees responsible for the actions of third parties they contract with for any part of the licensed business. Your contracts with those third parties must:

1. Require them to act as if bound by the same licence conditions and codes of practice as you.
2. Oblige them to supply information you need for your own reporting to the Commission.
3. Let you terminate promptly if they breach the contract or act inconsistently with the licensing objectives, "including for affiliates where they have breached a relevant advertising code of practice".

The Commission's page on third parties cites conditions 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 together, says licensees must carry out due diligence and keep oversight, and warns that failure "can result in regulatory action including suspension or the loss of the operating licence" (page updated 8 November 2024).

Worth knowing

You will see LCCP 16.1.1 cited online as the affiliate responsibility rule. It is not. 16.1.1 is an operating licence condition about digital adverts on websites that give unauthorised access to copyrighted content. It does reach affiliates, as the next section shows, but the general "operators answer for their affiliates" rule is SR code 1.1.2.

Other licence conditions that reach affiliate content

Because 1.1.2 binds your affiliates to your conditions and codes, these apply to their content as they do to yours.

Under 5.1.9, where space makes full disclosure impossible, the ad must say significant conditions apply and, online, the full significant conditions must be no more than one click away. T&Cs must stay available for the whole promotion.

Unlicensed brands: sections 330 and 333

Section 330 of the Gambling Act 2005 makes it an offence to advertise unlawful gambling, which in practice includes promoting an operator that lacks the GB licence it needs. The offence is not limited to operators, so it can reach an affiliate. Section 333 applies it to remote advertising aimed at, or likely to be accessed by, people in Great Britain, where the gambling uses remote equipment in GB or can be used there. Since amendments that took effect on 1 November 2014, an offshore site serving GB without a GB licence counts as unlawful gambling for this purpose.

That is mainly the affiliate's risk, but it is part of who you contract with. An affiliate whose GB-facing pages also push unlicensed brands is taking a criminal risk, and carrying your brand next to it. Checking a sample of their other promotions belongs in vetting.

CAP Code section 16: the rules affiliate content meets most

CAP and the ASA cover the whole UK, including Northern Ireland. The ASA's position, stated in 2017 and reflected in current advice, is that operators are primarily responsible for CAP compliance and may be held wholly or jointly responsible for affiliates' marketing. Its affiliate marketing advice says both the brand and the affiliate are responsible, even if the affiliate wrote the ad.

16.3.12: strong appeal to under-18s

Gambling ads must not be likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture. The "strong appeal" test replaced "particular appeal" on 1 October 2022. It asks how under-18s are likely to see the content, regardless of how adults see it.

CAP's updated under-18s guidance (14 October 2025) adds a rule of thumb: at least 100,000 social media follower accounts registered to under-18s, in total across platforms, indicates strong appeal. Look at the absolute number, not only the share, and check all major platforms. The guidance also warns that the real under-18 following is likely to be significantly higher than registered ages show.

16.3.13: media and context, and the 25% test

Gambling ads must not be directed at under-18s through the selection of media or the context in which they appear. CAP's guidance applies a 25% test: no medium should carry gambling ads if more than 25% of its audience is under 18. You need to show proactive, reasonable steps, such as choosing placements where adults are at least 75% of the audience and using the targeting tools available.

Evidence matters. In a ruling of 16 September 2026 on White Hat Gaming, the ASA rejected referral data as evidence of a website's audience, because successful referrals are all adults, and said social media audience data did not establish the website's audience either. It judged on content and context.

16.3.14: no one under 25

No one who is, or seems to be, under 25 may be featured gambling or playing a significant role. In a ruling of 16 September 2026 against Dribble Media Ltd t/a Midnite, the ASA found that a paid TikTok ad made by an affiliate breached 16.3.14 because it featured an AI-generated character who appeared under 25. Midnite said it had not sanctioned the ad. The ruling was still made against Midnite and the affiliate.

What CAP expects you to do about it

CAP's "Age-restricted ads online" guidance says affiliates, agencies, influencers and creators acting for a marketer should use it too. Primary responsibility stays with you. It says marketers should check creators' audience age data and monitor under-18 engagement with posts, tracking links and promo codes. For creators specifically, see working with streamers.

Labelling: affiliate content is advertising

Content carrying an affiliate link or code is advertising, and CAP rule 2.1 says it must be obviously identifiable as such, upfront. The ASA recommends "Ad" or "#ad" at the start. "Affiliate", "aff", "sp" or a disclaimer at the bottom of the page are likely to be insufficient, and it advises against "sponsored". A site where every offer earns commission must not imply it is independent.

Affiliate view

The labelling rules land on us first, because we wrote the page. What helps is an operator who says exactly which label it wants, and who doesn't pay a "review" bonus for content that reads as independent. If your brand guide and the ASA disagree, we will follow the ASA.

The 2026 bonus changes and affiliate content

From 19 January 2026, amended SR code 5.1.1 bars licensees from applying wagering requirements of more than 10 times to bonus funds, and from including more than one type of gambling product (betting, casino, bingo and lottery) in a single incentive. The date was originally announced as 19 December 2025 and moved to 19 January 2026.

For affiliate content, that means:

• Any GB offer described with wagering above 10x is either out of date or wrong.
• Combined offers, for example a sportsbook bet that comes with casino free spins, cannot be run as one incentive for GB customers.
• Old comparison tables, reviews and evergreen "best bonus" pages may still show pre-2026 terms.

Send affiliates your current GB offers and significant terms in a form they can copy, and tell them which old offers have been withdrawn. Our analysis of the 2026 bonus rules covers the update work in detail.

Who does what

Operator view

1.1.2 is the reason we sometimes act fast and explain later. If content in our name breaches a code, the licence that's at risk is ours. The fairer version of that is a clear list of what we'll ask for, a set time to fix things, and termination saved for the serious or repeated cases.

How to turn this table into contract clauses, monitoring and offboarding is covered in governing an affiliate programme.

Other markets in brief

Most regulated markets put the same duty on the operator in different words:

• Ontario: Standard 1.19 makes operators responsible for third parties, including marketing affiliates. Standard 1.21 says no affiliate you pay may also promote sites taking Ontario players without AGCO registration.
• Malta: regulation 33 of S.L. 583.09 holds the authorised person responsible for third-party breaches. The MGA may decline to sanction where the affiliate acted without your knowledge or approval and you took sufficient precautions and acted at once to put it right.
• Spain: RD 958/2020 article 37(2) makes operators responsible for communications made on their behalf, and the affiliates themselves are liable too.
• United States: Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut make the operator responsible for all advertising done on its behalf, licensed partner or not.

Details, dates and sources for each are in affiliate marketing rules by market.

Where to read the rules yourself

This guide is a summary, not legal advice. Read the Commission's own page on licensees' responsibilities for third parties, the LCCP conditions themselves, and CAP's section 16 and guidance, and take advice on your own programme.

Checklist

• Affiliate terms meet SR code 1.1.2 (a), (b) and (c), and condition 16.1.1
• Current GB offers and significant terms shared with affiliates; withdrawn offers flagged
• No GB offer content above 10x wagering or mixing product types
• "#ad" or "Ad" required upfront; no implied independence
• Audience age data collected; 25% and 100,000 under-18 tests applied
• Under-18 engagement with links and codes monitored
• No one who is or seems under 25 in affiliate creative
• A prompt route to fix or remove content, and to terminate