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Dutch Trade Association VNLOK Says Meta Isn’t Curbing Illegal Gambling Ads

By jili tutorial · September 1, 2026

Dutch Trade Association VNLOK Says Meta Isn’t Curbing Illegal Gambling Ads

Illegal Gambling Ads Dominate Meta’s Platforms

According to the Dutch trade association VNLOK, Facebook and Instagram in the Netherlands remain flooded with illegal gambling advertisements. The group claims that between 94% and 97% of all gambling ads reaching Dutch users in May and June 2026 were placed by unlicensed operators. VNLOK has sharply criticized Meta for failing to take adequate action.

The association explained that the Facebook pages behind these ads were not recognizable as gambling providers and spanned more than a hundred different categories. Ads appeared on fan pages, municipality pages, marketing agencies, entertainment websites, and personal blogs. VNLOK noted that this fragmentation made page-level detection difficult, allowing advertisers to simply re-emerge under a new identity immediately after being removed.

VNLOK’s Findings: 94–97% of Ads Are Illegal

The report was based on an analysis of 65,000 gambling advertisements. VNLOK found that 96.5% of advertisements in May were illegal, and the figure for June was 93.7%. Among ads linked to identified Facebook pages, 96% were associated with illegal operators in May, rising to 98.8% in June.

The number of Facebook pages carrying gambling ads also surged sharply, from 697 in May to 3,237 in June. VNLOK added that the ads had a short lifespan, remaining online for an average of 1.58 days in May and two days in June. Around 76% of ads in May ran for less than 24 hours, compared with 65% in June.

Meta’s removal rates remained low. VNLOK said Meta removed only 11% of the more than 60,000 illegal ads it identified in May, with the removal rate increasing to just 15% in June.

Tactics to Evade Moderation

According to VNLOK, advertisers use several tactics to circumvent Meta’s moderation systems. These include cloaking, redirects to Telegram, and the unauthorized use of established Dutch gambling brands. Cloaking allows advertisers to show different landing pages to different users—for example, a regulator might see an error message, while a potential customer is directed to an illegal casino application.

Targeting Vulnerable Young Adults

Dutch law also prohibits gambling advertisements from specifically targeting young adults aged 18 to 23. However, an academic review of 277 advertisements in Meta’s library identified violations among both online and land-based licensees. The review found that 7.3% of ads from online licensees targeted users in this age group, compared with 29.8% of ads from land-based licensees. Although people aged 18 to 23 are legally permitted to gamble in the Netherlands, policymakers consider them a group that warrants additional protection from gambling advertising.

Earlier this summer, VNLOK initiated legal proceedings against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and lodged a complaint with the European Commission. The group is calling on Meta to verify gambling advertisers targeting the Netherlands before their ads are allowed to run.

VNLOK is not the only Dutch organization calling out Meta. Earlier this month, BNR, a Dutch radio station, also criticized Facebook and Instagram, claiming they are directing illegal gambling ads toward vulnerable social media users.