Facebook to ban advertising from unlicensed Dutch operators
Social network blocks sites in order to comply with new draft gambling bill
Facebook has agreed to aid the Netherlands Gaming Authority’s (Kansspelautoriteit) fight against unlicensed egaming operators by blocking illegal sites from advertising on the platform.
The Kansspelautoriteit will provide the social network with a list of illegal operators and websites for Facebook to monitor under the terms of draft legislation published last week, which decrees that the promotion of unlicensed gambling is banned in Holland.
Authority board member Paul Tang described the ban as an important step in combatting illegal gambling, and helping protect young people from being “duped” into betting via black market sites. He said that Facebook’s readiness to comply with legislation showed the firm’s “high level of social responsibility”.
The ad ban will aid the authority’s fight against unlicensed sites with other measures, including a 29% tax rate on winnings from such sites, also included in the draft bill. A tax rate of 20% of gross profit will be set for licensees, with companies also required to pay an application fee of between 35,000 and 50,000 and a monthly levy of 1.5% of gross game result to the Kansspelautoriteit.
The news comes as police carried out a series of raids on illegal operators based in Eindhoven, with seven sites being shut down as a result. The most high-profile offering to go offline was the Amsterdamcasino.com site, alongside AmsterdamPoker, FruitLuck, Golden10Casino, JackpotRed, Tanzoo and TripleGold Casino.