Ksa and other European regulators work with Google and Meta on EU whitelist

The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) and several other European regulators are working with Google and Meta in a task force that is preparing a whitelist of legal gambling companies in the European Union, Ksa chair Michel Groothuizen said in his latest blog. Under the arrangement, every online casino not on the whitelist will be treated as illegal and excluded by Google.

Groothuizen said the Ksa and some other European regulators travelled to Dublin earlier this year to meet Google and Meta. All parties at the table knew that litigation was the alternative to cooperation, but cooperation was chosen for the time being, he said.

The blog responds to criticism of the approach to illegal gambling advertising at Google and Meta. In the parliamentary committee debate on gambling of 3 September, VVD member Bart Bikkers asked for a harder approach to the large tech platforms that facilitate illegal gambling advertising. Lawyer Justin Franssen also said during SBC in Lisbon that sufficient powers already exist to act against Meta and Google.

Groothuizen said the problem is not the Ksa's ability to gather convincing evidence that companies such as Meta and Google facilitate prohibited activities, but that its options for action are not effective enough. He said the tech companies have practically inexhaustible financial resources, earn much from advertising and would contest every piece of evidence and every accusation, so that legal proceedings could take years. He compared the Ksa to a sheriff with a cap gun.

Groothuizen wrote that the regulators cannot assume the large tech companies will be permanent allies, because the interests of Google and Meta run counter to what the regulators want. He added that the problem extends beyond gambling, with talks also held with the tech companies on files such as illegal medicines and vapes. He said the Ksa will not hesitate to take on one of them if agreements with Big Tech deliver too little.