Meta has again been slammed for allowing illegal gambling operators to advertise on its platform – this time in the Netherlands.
Dutch gambling’s trade body, Vergunde Nederlandse Online Kansspelaanbieders (VNLOK), has warned that illegal providers continue to reach players in the country “on a large scale” via the social media brand’s platforms.
Analysis of Meta’s ads library from VNLOK between October 2025 and December 2025 revealed that “more than 95% of the gambling promotions found—both Facebook pages and advertisements” were from black market operators. Only a small portion of these ads were removed by Meta, with the association calling for “faster and more robust measures” as a result.
This criticism intensifies pressure on Meta after comments by the UK Gambling Commission’s Executive Director Tim Miller to industry stakeholders at ICE last week. He said he has seen more adverts for illegal online casinos appearing on their brand platforms using ‘not on GamStop’ signage to target customers who have self-excluded using GamStop.
Björn Fuchs, Chair of VNLOK, stated: “The regulated Dutch gambling market is designed to protect consumers through strict duty of care, affordability guarantees, and advertising regulations. Illegal providers fall outside this system, yet still manage to reach Dutch target groups on a large scale through social advertising.
“The share of illegal ads removed by Meta remains limited: 3% in October, 5.2% in November, and 4.7% in December. These figures are alarming.”
Illegal adverts
Data from VNLOK showed the following information about Facebook pages and gambling ads promoting gambling to the Dutch market between October and December last year:
October 2025
- 588 Facebook pages – 96.4% illegal
- 61,717 adverts – 96.9% illegal
November 2025
- 1,158 Facebook pages – 97.5% illegal
- 84,493 adverts – 97.2% illegal
December 2025
- 1,003 Facebook pages – 97.8% illegal
- 67,732 adverts – 95.9% illegal
VNLOK added that impressions for illegal gambling adverts peaked at 50 million in November, with adverts visible on average for “one and a half days in October (79% for less than a day), two days in November (69% for less than a day) and two days in December, with 87% of illegal ads being visible for less than a day”.
Fuchs noted: “These figures are alarming. The enormous flood of illegal gambling advertisements on Meta platforms undermines player protection and also erodes trust in the legal market. This problem is unfortunately growing.
“The promotion of illegal gambling websites on social media is expanding from social advertising to social content. Meta and other platforms are being flooded with viral videos featuring the brands of illegal gambling websites. This content is attracting targeted minors and young adults to illegal gambling offerings, where the risk of gambling harm is very high.”
To improve player protections, VNLOK has called for the following three actions:
- Meta must improve proactive detection, advertiser verification and rapid takedown processes for illegal gambling promotions.
- More enforcement action must be taken by the Netherlands gambling authority within existing legal frameworks against marketing companies and platforms that facilitate advertisements and/or content that direct Dutch consumers to illegal gambling websites.
- Policymakers and regulators must make sure additional rules and restrictions don’t compromise legal online gambling’s visibility and attractiveness, as it could result in Dutch consumers’ net protection decreasing.
UKGC criticises Meta
Last week, the UKGC revealed it had been in contact with the social media company. However, Miller stated that they have made “very limited progress” and that they should be doing more to fight against the illegal market.
“Their suggestion was that we should deploy AI tools ourselves to monitor and find these ads and then report them,” he said.
“I would be very surprised if Meta, as one of the world’s largest tech companies, is incapable of proactively using their own keyword facility to prevent the advertising of illegal gambling. It could leave you with the impression they are quite happy to turn a blind eye and continue taking money from criminals and scammers until someone shouts about it.”
