Dutch gambling authority opens talks with Google and Meta on illegal online gambling

The Dutch gambling authority, Ksa, has opened talks with Google and Meta and with other European regulators on ways to curb illegal online gambling. The strategy set out by Ksa chair Michel Groothuizen covers making access to illegal gambling platforms harder, blocking payment flows and holding large technology companies to account. Sanctions against the platforms remain an option, the report said.

According to Groothuizen, about 90% of players bet only with licensed operators five years after online gambling was legalised in the Netherlands, but the illegal market retains a significant weight in economic terms: for every euro played legally, another goes to the unauthorised circuit. Fines imposed on illegal operators have proved ineffective at the collection stage, the report said, which has led the authority to look for alternative tools.

The report said large technology companies are a particular focus, accused of contributing to the visibility of illegal offerings through online advertising, including towards minors and vulnerable people on self-exclusion registers. Dutch law and the European Digital Services Act offer possible legal bases for action, although a formal case against the large platforms would involve complex, costly proceedings that could last years, according to the report.

Among the initiatives under way is the creation, with Google, of a list of operators authorised in the European Union, which could allow unlicensed parties to be excluded from advertising platforms. Groothuizen said dialogue and enforcement action can proceed in parallel, according to the report. The stated aim is to obtain concrete results without entering prematurely into litigation with an uncertain outcome, while keeping open the possibility of sanctioning the platforms if voluntary commitments prove insufficient.