State and federal officials have ramped up scrutiny of online sports betting companies in recent weeks, launching inquiries, demanding information and, in one case, proposing a new rule that would limit when companies like DraftKings can pitch their users to bet more.

The moves — by gaming regulators, government lawyers and federal lawmakers — follow an investigation last month by ProPublica that tested the guardrails DraftKings and other sports betting companies have in place to protect users from spiraling out of control. That system is called responsible gaming, and executives say it’s integral to their companies’ long-term success.

The ProPublica article showed how DraftKings bestowed VIP status on a reporter who deliberately bet like a problem gambler. The report detailed the ways in which the app’s user design and promotions encouraged more betting — even after the reporter opted into responsible gaming tools designed to slow users down. A week earlier, The New York Times reported that DraftKings had used machine learning and artificial intelligence to target promotions to losing bettors.

Those articles were the focus of an Oct. 15 meeting of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, which, partly in response to the stories, tabled the renewal of DraftKings’ five-year license. Instead, the board granted the company a temporary four-month permit while investigators look into the issues raised in the reports as well as other paperwork concerns.

The board’s chair, Christopher Hebert, said the Times had raised some “very serious questions” and called ProPublica’s reporting “very troubling.”

While news stories “are not findings of regulatory violations,” Hebert said, “as regulators we have a responsibility to examine these matters that could affect the integrity of gaming operations and the protections of our citizens here in Louisiana.”

State health officials say the number of Louisianans believed to have a gambling disorder has risen in recent years amid the surge in popularity of online gambling and prediction market sites. One top official reported this........

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