Dutch Radio Station Calls Out Illegal Gambling Ads on Facebook, Instagram

BNR, a Dutch radio station, has found evidence that illegal gambling ads on Facebook and Instagram are continuously targeting vulnerable consumers in the country. 

Dutch Radio Station Flags Illegal Gambling Ads Targeting Vulnerable Players 

The users, who may be registered with the national self-exclusion registry, Cruks, are reportedly seeing these illegal gambling ads as part of a targeted approach that rogue operators are deploying through social media platforms to reach paying customers, even if those people may be experiencing or are susceptible to excessive gambling and gambling-related harm.

According to BNR, these ads are part of an orchestrated effort that deliberately goes after vulnerable consumers to begin with, and specifically include language such as “without Cruks” to suggest that a website is not applying self-exclusion restrictions. 

The ads include a call to action in the form of bonuses that are designed to tempt people with reported problem gambling into taking action and depositing. The gambling websites use marketing language such as “reliable casinos”, the BNR notes, to try and inspire trust in consumers.

To Meta’s credit, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, the BNR investigation led to a swift response from the company, which ended up removing the ads when the radio station flagged the issue. 

Meta has appeared a willing party in helping crack down on illegal gambling ads, but worries persist that the company may be generating a substantial chunk of its revenue from such advertisements, which has slowed down its overall response to rooting out scam ads.

Meta Acts His Part, Goes After Illegal Ads But Perhaps A Little Slow

For example, two gambling industry bodies, the KVA and VNLOK, estimate that Meta may be generating anything between €7.3 million and €13.6 million from illegal gambling ads that specifically target Dutch customers. This is just an estimate based on publicly available data. 

Revenue streams from illegal gambling, however, have been a well-established income source for the platform, which has faced scrutiny. Meta has been stepping up efforts to crack down on this kind of online advertising, although the platform may be going slower than it could be doing, according to a Reuters report.