This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is under fire from Britain’s gambling regulator for allegedly allowing unlicensed operators to target UK users through its social networks. The regulator said the owner of Facebook and Instagram is permitting ads from unlicensed gambling operators to appear on its platforms and is taking money from them without adequate policing.

Speaking at the ICE gaming conference in Barcelona, the regulator’s executive director, Tim Miller, said Meta’s claim that it only becomes aware of illegal ads once notified is simply false. He pointed to the company’s own searchable ad library, which shows advertisers promoting gambling sites that do not participate in the UK’s GamStop self-exclusion scheme.

The commission’s critique centres on Meta’s assertion that it cannot proactively detect these violations. Miller challenged that position, saying that if regulators can identify the ads using basic keyword searches, Meta should be able to do the same. He described the situation as a window into criminality.

This comes as Meta reshuffles its senior leadership, following the appointment of Dina Powell McCormick as President and Vice Chairman on January 12, 2026.