The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has intensified its crackdown on unlicensed online gambling advertisements, filing over 4,600 reports with Meta in April alone concerning illicit gambling promotions found on Facebook and Instagram.
The KSA reiterated in an update on Thursday that combating illegal online gambling remained a key priority for the regulator. Central to its enforcement strategy is addressing the promotional activities of offshore or unlicensed gambling operators.
According to the regulator, these entities frequently appropriated the names and logos of prominent Dutch athletes and established brands to falsely bolster their legitimacy.
Such practices are said to complicate consumers’ ability to discern whether an online gambling site holds a necessary Dutch licence and therefore player protection measures.
“Advertising on social media reaches large numbers of people,” the KSA warned. It emphasised the importance of intensifying efforts to ensure illegal advertisements are promptly removed.
The recent surge in reports to Meta is part of an ongoing, collaborative initiative convened by the KSA, involving public authorities, platform representatives and private sector companies.
According to KSA’s 2025 report, the regulator worked alongside other partners to report Google advertisements ‘en masse’ last year. This resulted in a decrease in search results from illegal sponsors.
The report also estimated that 50,000 illegal gambling advertisements were found each month via social media last year.
Underage gambling targeting has also been a prevalent issue to the regulator recently. The Dutch government implemented a ban on ‘untargeted’ gambling advertisements in mid-2023. Marketing to players under 24 is not allowed in the Netherlands.
A study this week, focusing exclusively on 277 advertisements from Meta’s Ad Library data and licensed Dutch operators, identified that 31 of the 277 adverts (11.2%) targeted age groups including those aged 18 to 23.
Online gambling licence holders demonstrated a high compliance rate of 92.7% (only 7.3% non-compliant), whereas adverts linked to offline licence holders were less compliant, with nearly 30% (14 of 47 adverts) breaching age restrictions.
In January this year, the Netherlands’ coalition government hinted at fully banning gambling ads in the market.
The coalition agreement at the time said: “We are strengthening the duty of care of online gambling providers, cracking down on illegal gambling sites and introducing a complete advertising ban on online gambling. We are exploring limiting the number of licences for online gambling sites.”
At the time Gambling trade body VNLOK warned a total ad ban could drive activity to the black market. Björn Fuchs, chairman of VNLOK, said a total ban on advertising would undermine the Netherlands’ current gambling policy.
