According to Bloomberg, in recent days the British Lottery Commission has publicly accused Meta of “blindness” towards illegal gambling advertisements appearing on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The head of the regulatory body stated that a large number of unlicensed gambling operators targeting British users could easily be found through Meta’s searchable advertising library, and that “Meta can do the same if we can find it, but they are selectively ignored”.
In a speech delivered on Monday by Tim Miller, Executive Director of the British Lottery Commission, at the ICE conference in Barcelona, it was stated that these illegal advertisements were in essence “windows of crime”. He stated that the regulator had discovered numerous unlicensed operator advertisements circumventing English law by searching for keywords such as “not on Gamstop”. All British-licensed operators are required to access the Gamstop system and block players participating in the scheme. Tim Miller revealed that Meta had recommended to the regulatory authorities that they use their artificial intelligence tools to detect and report illegal advertisements and had undertaken to remove them upon notification. But he questioned: “Meta, as one of the largest technology companies in the world, would be very surprised if it could not use its own keyword system to stop illegal gambling advertising. This inevitably leads to the belief that they are willing to open their eyes and continue to profit from criminals and fraudsters until they are publicly exposed.”
Illegal gambling advertising harms vulnerable groups and makes “criminals and liars profit”. Unlicensed operators do not pay taxes and consumers are at higher risk of fraud. The British Lottery Commission is one of the increasingly strengthened regulatory bodies against illegal gambling operators who circumvent local laws and target local consumers. The United Kingdom has shut down hundreds of thousands of websites related to unlicensed gambling operators and issued restraining notices, but this remains an ongoing struggle against changing goals. Meta had previously required gambling companies to obtain licence plates in the target market for advertising, but the company spokesperson had not responded immediately to the request for evaluation. According to an earlier survey by Rest of World, illegal gambling advertising on the Meta platform continues to be widespread in countries where gambling is explicitly prohibited, such as India, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Data from the Meta Open Advertisement Bank show that thousands of active gambling advertisements still exist in Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and that 2,400 advertisements have been discontinued, but their outreach pages are still accessible, indicating chronic regulatory gaps. Malaysia was particularly prominent, with its laws explicitly prohibiting gambling advertising, but investigations found that dozens of Facebook and Instagram pages were still promoting online betting services. Meta ‘ s implementation of local laws and its own advertising policy has been widely questioned.
