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Add as a favourite source on Google Add DutchNews as a favourite source on GoogleUnlicensed gambling sites are running adverts on Facebook and Instagram that target vulnerable people who have signed themselves onto the national register barring them from gambling, an investigation by radio station BNR has found.
More than 100,000 people in the Netherlands have registered with Cruks, the self-exclusion scheme set up when online gambling was legalised, which requires every licensed casino, arcade and betting site to turn them away.
BNR found that searching Facebook for terms such as “Cruks”, geen Cruks or zonder Cruks (without Cruks) – surfaces a stream of adverts from casinos that hold no Dutch licence, promising large bonuses and offering routes around the register.
The adverts follow a consistent pattern, BNR reported: they suggest Cruks is restricting the user, then point them towards unlicensed alternatives. One features an AI-generated woman who tells viewers that international casinos do not consult the Dutch register and invites them to play the same day.
The accounts placing them carry names such as Betrouwbare Spelsites (reliable gaming sites). Users who encounter the adverts on Facebook go on to see them on Instagram and Threads.
Addiction specialists told BNR they were concerned that people registered with Cruks were being singled out, because seeing gambling adverts can trigger strong urges in addicts.
Meta removed adverts
Meta pulled a large number of the adverts from its public ad library after BNR put questions to the company, and the accounts that were identified were taken offline.
In a written response, Meta said it takes enforcement seriously and that advertisers must comply with the law. It declined to tell BNR what it earns from the adverts.
An estimate published in May by two gambling industry bodies KVA and VNLOK put Meta’s annual revenue from illegal gambling adverts aimed at the Netherlands at between €7.3 million and €13.6 million.
The figure is modelled from publicly available advertising data rather than confirmed by Meta, and the report states that it is not suggesting Meta knowingly allows the adverts.
VNLOK took Meta to court in June in an attempt to force it to act faster, and complained to the European Commission that the company is not meeting its obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The cabinet set out plans in June for a complete ban on online gambling advertising and bonuses. Junior justice minister Claudia van Bruggen has said the rise in gambling addiction, particularly among young people, is deeply worrying.
If you are concerned about your own or someone else’s gambling, OpenOverGokken, the national gambling helpline run by regulator the Kansspelautoriteit, can be reached free on 0800 24 000 22, day or night.
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