VNLOK, the Dutch gambling trade body, has formally summoned Meta to court after months of escalating pressure over illegal gambling advertisements on its platforms.
The legal action follows a complaint filed with the European Commission in June, which centred on a large influx of gambling ads promoting unlicensed operators to Dutch consumers.
Those ads were appearing across both Facebook and Instagram, two of Meta’s most widely used platforms, reaching significant numbers of people in the Netherlands.
VNLOK based its European Commission complaint on multiple surveys examining the volume and nature of gambling marketing content circulating on Meta’s platforms.
The findings from those surveys were striking, with more than 90% of the analysed gambling advertisements on Facebook found to be connected to illegal operators.
The removal rate of illegal content targeting Dutch consumers was also alarmingly low, with only 11% taken down in May and a further 15% in June.
Those figures led VNLOK to formally accuse Meta of taking insufficient action to protect the Dutch gambling market from unlicensed operators.
VNLOK is asking the Amsterdam court to determine that Meta is failing to meet its obligations under the European Digital Services Act and to order the company to take meaningful corrective measures.
Björn Fuchs, Chairman of VNLOK, stated: “We have repeatedly pointed out to Meta the extent of the problem and asked it to cooperate structurally on a solution. That has not yielded enough results. That is why we are now presenting the case to the Dutch court.”
Fuchs also drew attention to growing political momentum on the issue, noting that the House of Representatives has explicitly placed platform responsibility on its agenda.
He added: “Illegal gambling providers can only reach Dutch consumers by using the infrastructure of large online platforms.”
The case marks a significant escalation in efforts by regulated gambling industry bodies to hold major tech platforms accountable for enabling unlicensed operators to advertise freely.
If the court rules in favour of VNLOK, it could set a meaningful precedent for how platforms across Europe are required to police gambling-related advertising under the DSA framework.
