Dutch Gambling Association Takes Meta to Court over Illegal Gambling Advertising

VNLOK, the Dutch trade association for licensed online gambling operators, is taking another step in its fight against unregulated operators. The organization has summoned tech giant Meta to court, alleging that the company helped disseminate illegal gambling advertisements via Facebook and Instagram. VNLOK maintains that most ads shown to Dutch consumers are for black market operators. VNLOK Argues That Current Moderation Is Ineffective According to VNLOK, Meta’s current moderation efforts are wholly insufficient, as the platform only removed 15% of illegal advertisements in June. The organization maintains that such marketing materials should not appear in the first place, as even short exposure may negatively affect consumers. VNLOK contends that the problem appeared through fan pages, municipality pages, marketing agencies, entertainment websites, and personal blogs. We have repeatedly drawn Meta’s attention to the scale of the problem and asked for structural cooperation on a solution. That has not yielded sufficient results. Björn Fuchs, VNLOK chairman Illegal gambling operators often resort to several tricks to fool automatic moderation, including cloaking, redirects to Telegram, and the unauthorised use of established Dutch gambling brands. Some more advanced techniques even make links display error messages to regulators while leading normal users to illegal casino apps. If an illegal operator is removed from one platform, the same operator simply resurfaces via another channel. We end up constantly playing catch-up. Björn Fuchs, VNLOK chairman VNLOK is asking the court to force Meta to comply with its obligations under the European Digital Services Act (DSA). The organization also wants guarantees that Meta will take enhanced measures to prevent illegal gambling advertisements targeting Dutch consumers. VNLOK notes that the lawsuit does not specifically target social media but rather the uncontrolled spread of illegal gambling ads. New Laws Could Give the Gaming Authority Expanded Powers This lawsuit comes ahead of a significant regulatory shift. Next week, lawmakers will vote on a motion to empower the Dutch Gaming Authority to fine online platforms like Meta if they do not take sufficient action against illegal gambling advertisements. Failure to block offending content would result in substantial fines and penalties. Despite these proposed updates, VNLOK contends that the Gaming Authority already has the necessary power to go after companies like Meta. The authority still strongly supports the government’s tougher approach to the illegal market and favors holding online platforms more accountable. Its lawsuit merely aims to deliver concrete results as quickly as possible. As governments and industry representatives take measures against the black market, unlicensed operators respond with increasingly sophisticated schemes. Dutch radio BNR recently revealed how expired domains can be used to hijack legitimate websites and use them as a springboard for illegal gambling. This is why the cooperation of companies like Meta can be invaluable in detecting malicious ads.