VNLOK sues Meta over illegal gambling ads in the Netherlands

The Dutch gambling trade association VNLOK has initiated lawsuits against Meta that accuse its platforms, Facebook and Instagram, of facilitating illegal gambling advertisements that are accessed by customers in the Netherlands. According to the trade association, it has been revealed that a sizeable 90 percent of the gambling advertisements on Facebook came from non-licensed gambling operators. The trade association stated that Meta took down only 11 percent of illegal advertisements marked in May and just 15 percent of advertisements reported in June. VNLOK initiated the lawsuit at the end of June, in addition to lodging a complaint with the European Commission. VNLOK chairman Fuchs said: We have repeatedly pointed out the scale of the problem to Meta and asked them to cooperate structurally in finding a solution. That has yielded insufficient results. VNLOK reported that Meta’s platforms had displayed in excess of 70,000 gambling advertisements that appeared in the final quarter of the year, with illegal gambling operators responsible for almost 95 percent of these advertisements. The reports revealed that less than five percent of these advertisements were removed by Meta. In another development, OPIA has just announced that Dutch parliament is set to pass the bill that would see KSA granted the power to fine large digital companies such as Google and Meta for ignoring repeated warnings regarding their advertisements.