Turkey Goes After 30 Gambling Social Media Accounts in Latest Enforcement Move

Turkey’s Advertising Board has now gone after 30 social media accounts that the watchdog was able to single out as promoting illegal gambling and betting.

The news was shared by the country’s Trade Ministry on Tuesday and goes to bolster Turkey’s ongoing effort to limit the impact of illegal gambling in the country.  

Turkey Takes Aim at Illegal Gambling and Social Media

According to local sources, the regulator has targeted YouTube channels as well as social media handles and influencers, following an investigation into their activities and discovering evidence of illegal gambling ads and promotional links.

These offenses breached both the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices and the Consumer Protection Law.

This marks the latest concentrated effort by the country to ensure that it limits the access and reach of gambling websites, social media promotions, and payment gateways that are tied to illegal gambling.

The country also has very strict anti-gambling laws that specifically target online casinos, as well as other platforms. Turkey is hardly the only country to have resorted to targeted bans and investigations to stamp out illegal gambling.

Just recently, the Netherlands announced that its gambling watchdog has taken action against three social media influencers who were promoting non-country-regulated websites that offered gambling products.

Yet the most recent enforcement action is only a drop in the ocean of Turkey’s breadth of operation when it comes to illegal gambling. According to a report from earlier this year, in 2024 alone, the country managed to block more than 233,000 illegal gambling websites.