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TikTok’s Policies Questioned as Safer Gambling Talk Leads to Bans

By jili tutorial · September 2, 2026

TikTok’s Policies Questioned as Safer Gambling Talk Leads to Bans

Ethical Gambling Advocate Faces Repeated Bans

Jim Curry, host of the Better Gaming Show podcast, regularly finds his social media accounts suspended—not for promoting gambling, but for talking about how to make it safer. In the latest incident, TikTok banned him for discussing lottery compliance.

“I get blacklisted all the time,” Curry told CasinoBeats over a video call last week. “For whatever reason, the algorithms or the moderation policies or the systems see either gambling or lottery and presume that I’m doing something against the rules.”

Usually, his appeals succeed. But not this time. “I appealed it. It said, ‘Your appeal has been rejected. This is a permanent ban. If you want to download all your data…’ And that’s where I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve lost it all.’ It’s not a massive account; it was never about whether it’s a massive account or not. It’s the principle of the thing,” said Curry.

LinkedIn Post Triggers Account Restoration

It wasn’t until Curry took his complaint to LinkedIn that his Better Gaming Show account was reactivated. “Last night I copped a permanent ban (even following an appeal) for discussing how to make gambling more robust, safer and compliant,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Meanwhile, I see a waterfall of accounts and posts in my timeline featuring tipsters promising guaranteed wins, crypto casino ads with no age filter checks, and grifters/influencers selling systems to teenagers.”

“If TikTok’s moderation policy can’t tell the difference between reform and harm, it’s clearly just protecting attention, engagement, and commercial gain.”

Soon after the post, his account was active again—much to the relief of his 43 followers. “To be honest, it’s a really dull watch,” he admitted. “Two old people discussing how to make gambling safe. I could understand it if they banned it for being too boring.”

Curry received a message stating the ban was due to gambling content. Through LinkedIn, he saw that several people from TikTok had viewed his post. “I just presumed that my little hissy fit probably got somebody internally to just switch it back on.”

TikTok did not notify Curry why his account was restored. “I find it absolutely baffling how people who legitimately try to improve the industry and talk about stuff constantly get banned,” he said with exasperation.

This was not his first ban, and it likely won’t be his last.

Gambling Promotions Rife on TikTok

Curry claims there is a “waterfall of accounts” promoting gambling on TikTok. Anyone using the platform regularly will likely have seen content sponsored by crypto casinos such as Stake or Rainbet.

TikTok’s gambling policy states that it does not allow “Gambling ads that promote unlicensed or illegal gambling services.” Rainbet is blocked in the UK and the US, but its content still frequently appears in TikTok videos in those countries. A quick search reveals many videos of people playing on the app, some explicitly showing gambling. This raises questions about how such content slips through.

“It gets engagement, it gets people’s attention, and it probably gets people staying on their apps for longer,” Curry said. “Anything that increases dwell time, view time, number of videos watched, all of that sort of stuff, is going to be a win for them.”

Meta and Google’s Policies Also Under Scrutiny

It’s not just TikTok, Curry points out. “I have to jump through hoops to advertise on Meta and Google, but they’re all getting advertising money and revenue from gambling companies.”

A report last year suggested that Meta—parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook—generates $16 billion in annual revenue from scams and advertising of illegal services, including gambling. That amounts to roughly 10% of the company’s overall revenue. Meta insists it is trying to tackle the problem, but internal documents suggest limits. One document said action against scams, illegal gambling, and other banned products should not cost Meta more than 0.15% of total revenue—about $135 million, out of the $90 billion Meta generated in the first half of 2025. “Let’s be cautious,” wrote a manager overseeing the effort. “We have specific revenue guardrails.”

Earlier this year, the UK Gambling Commission accused Meta of turning a blind eye to illegal businesses on its platforms.

Regulators Face Challenges to Restrict Illegal Services

Curry, who is also based in the UK, stopped short of accusing TikTok or Meta of deliberately allowing prohibited content. “That’s a big accusation to make, because that would be quite fatalistic for them,” he said. He acknowledges that monitoring social media content is difficult and admits he doesn’t have a solution.

“I think there are a lot of black market operators who will keep coming,” said Curry. “You cut off the head, and more emerge. The Gambling Commission announced the number of URLs blocked for gambling sites in the UK. I think it was in the tens of thousands. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.”

Since 2024, the Commission’s Illegal Markets team has reported 447,778 URLs to search engines. Of these, 287,961 have been removed. Additionally, content creators have devised methods to bypass automated blocks. “You can’t mention certain words, because the videos will be taken straight down, so people end up finding ways around it. They use words like grape or corn.”

There are even sites dedicated to mastering the “dark art of TikTok gambling ads.” Tips include avoiding direct gambling-related words, focusing on demographics known for engagement with gambling, and including covert messages that “subtly suggest the excitement of winning,” according to one guide to beating the algorithm.

Meta Calls on TikTok to Protect Users

With creators using a host of methods to circumvent algorithms, the moderation problem is massive for social media companies. They claim they are doing their best.

“Scammers are persistent criminals whose efforts, often driven by ruthless cross-border criminal networks that operate on a global scale, continue to grow in sophistication and complexity,” a Meta spokesperson told CasinoBeats.

Last week, Meta called on TikTok and Google to join the company in introducing more stringent measures to protect against unwanted content. This is part of an $18 billion settlement the company has agreed to pay to end lawsuits across 48 states. New measures will include daily limits, turning off apps at night, and additional parental controls—all aimed at limiting the time teens spend on social media.

“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers—TikTok and YouTube—to put the same measures in place,” the company stated.

We reached out to TikTok for comment on its gambling policies, but did not receive a response.

Now back live on the platform, Curry says the Better Gaming Show would love to hear from anyone who shares his mission of promoting safer gambling. You can get in touch through his website, and you could even star in the next TikTok video—until it gets taken down.