Dutch licensed operators take Meta to court over unlicensed gambling ads

What has happened

VNLOK (Vergunde Nederlandse Online Kansspelaanbieders) has served Meta with a summons at the Amsterdam District Court. It asks the court to rule that Meta is in breach of the Digital Services Act and to order measures that stop illegal gambling adverts reaching players in the Netherlands.

VNLOK announced its intention to sue in June 2026 and filed a complaint with the European Commission the same month. The outcome of that complaint has not been made public. No public response from Meta had been reported at the time of writing.

The evidence VNLOK relies on

According to VNLOK's own monitoring, 96.5% of the gambling adverts it examined on Meta's platforms in May 2026 came from operators without a Dutch licence.

What this means for players

Only operators holding a licence from the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) may offer online gambling to players in the Netherlands. An advert appearing on social media is not evidence that an operator is licensed. Check the Netherlands page on IRLG and the KSA's own register before playing.