The internet promised to modernise an age-old activity, bringing new convenience to a quick thrill. But has it instead delivered a predatory, 24/7 addiction machine - one that exploits our psychology with algorithms and has created what many now consider a serious public health crisis?
Welcome to Ruined By The Internet? - the show where we examine how technology is shaping modern life - whether we want it to or not.
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We're joined by Mark Kempster - gambling reform advocate and member of Australia's Alliance For Gambling Reform's Voices of Lived Experience program - who has seen the human cost of online gambling firsthand, and is fighting to make sure others don't pay the same price.
In this episode we investigate the addictive design built into digital platforms, examine how data and algorithms are used to target vulnerable people at their most exposed moments, explore the normalisation of online activity among young people, and ask whether regulation can ever keep pace with an industry that has turned a public health crisis into a business model.
(00:00) The rise of online gambling and its real world impact
(06:55) The addictive design deliberately built into digital platforms
(11:48) Regulatory challenges and the industry's influence over reform
(15:59) How data and algorithms are used to target vulnerable people
(23:38) The future of reform in Australia: what needs to change
(25:33) The pervasiveness of the problem among young people
(27:57) The specific dangers of in-play betting and real time exploitation
(30:46) How online culture has normalised what was once considered a serious risk
(34:49) The role of technology in accelerating addiction
(39:03) The urgent need for regulation and corporate accountability
(43:33) Advocacy for change and what hope for the future looks like
Key takeaways:
• Frictionless Dopamine Architecture: Mobile apps use psychological design tactics (hiding the time, complicating withdrawals, and employing predatory "VIP managers") to trap users in continuous betting loops.
• Targeting Vulnerable Demographics: Tech-driven inducements like bonus bets target 18-to-34-year-olds with developing impulse control, radically normalising gambling to the point that young children routinely debate match odds.
• Exploiting Instant Urges: Erasing traditional physical barriers, real-time in-play betting capitalises on immediate emotional impulses, allowing vulnerable users to bypass natural urge dissipation windows and lose thousands in seconds.
• Regulatory Capture and Failure: Meaningful reform is blocked by powerful sporting and gambling lobbies in Canberra, while a $50 billion industry exploits loopholes to register in the Northern Territory under a regulator with zero full-time staff.
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Guest links - Mark Kempster
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_kempster
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kempster-2925317b/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/OffOdds
Alliance For Gambling Reform: https://www.agr.org.au/
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