VNLOK, the Dutch trade association for licensed gambling operators, has formally summoned Meta to appear before an Amsterdam court in a landmark legal dispute.
The lawsuit marks the final phase of a prolonged battle between the trade body and the social media giant over the widespread promotion of illegal gambling services.
VNLOK is asking the court to assess whether Meta is complying with the European Digital Services Act and to order it to take stronger action against unlicensed operators targeting Dutch consumers.
The association first threatened legal action back in June, citing Meta’s repeated failure to block illegal gambling advertisements across Facebook and Instagram.
VNLOK chairman Bjorn Fuchs stated: “We have repeatedly pointed out the scale of the problem to Meta and asked them to cooperate structurally in finding a solution. That has yielded insufficient results. Therefore, we are now submitting the case to the Dutch courts.”
The association has claimed that more than 90% of gambling advertisements appearing on Facebook originate from operators that hold no valid licence in the Netherlands.
After flagging specific illegal adverts to Meta, VNLOK found that the platform removed just 11% of those flagged in May and only 15% of those flagged in June.
The situation showed little improvement later in the year, with Meta-owned platforms displaying more than 70,000 gambling-related adverts in the final quarter of 2025 alone, of which unlicensed operators were responsible for over 95%.
Despite the enormous volume of violations, VNLOK found that Meta removed fewer than 5% of those advertisements, a figure the trade body described as wholly inadequate.
Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit confirmed in its 2025 annual report that it had filed thousands of complaints about illegal gambling adverts with Meta on a monthly basis throughout the year.
The legal action comes at a particularly sensitive moment, as the Dutch House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to grant the Netherlands Gambling Authority the power to directly fine online platforms that fail to adequately combat illegal advertising.
Fuchs described this legislative development as an “important signal,” suggesting that government policy is moving toward placing greater responsibility on major online platforms themselves.
He added: “Illegal gambling providers can only reach Dutch consumers by using the infrastructure of large online platforms.”
The combination of the court summons and the pending parliamentary vote signals a significant tightening of the regulatory environment for platforms that carry gambling-related content in the Netherlands.
For the licensed iGaming industry, the outcome of this case could set an important precedent for how digital platforms across Europe are held accountable under the Digital Services Act.
