During the SBC Summit on Wednesday, Justin Franssen, a partner at Franssen Tolboom Attorneys at Law, criticized the Dutch gambling regulator for failing to act against Meta and other platforms running illegal gambling advertisements. "It's absolutely incomprehensible that we have a regulator that is paid a serious amount of money by the operators and continues to complain that it doesn't have enough enforcement capabilities," said Franssen while participating in the panel titled "The Dutch Dilemma: Deposit Caps, Ad Bans and the Black-Market Boom."
Franssen highlighted a specific clause in Dutch gambling law, which was expanded to include not only a ban on advertising prohibited gambling but also the facilitation of such activities. "What Meta and others are doing is pure facilitation," he emphasized, urging the regulator to take action.
He reported that responsibility for enforcement has shifted to the industry itself, with VNLOK, the Dutch online gambling trade association, suing Meta. Nederlandse Loterij has also pursued civil cases against illegal gambling sites Lalabet, which was ruled against in March 2025, and Qbet, which faced a ruling in April 2026, securing a victory against Lalabet in June.
Further expressing his frustrations, Franssen criticized a motion recently debated in the Dutch parliament. The motion sought to give the KSA the authority to act against Meta should the platform neglect requests to remove ads. "Well, it already can. It just isn't doing so," he stated.
VNLOK chairman Björn Fuchs also voiced his disappointment regarding the regulator. He remarked, "It was really astonishing to read the gambling authority state in a national newspaper that it would rather talk and cooperate with Meta because that would be more effective in the long term. We've seen the last five years; it doesn’t add up."
In an interview after the panel, Fuchs mentioned that after receiving only automated responses in dialogues with Meta, VNLOK opted to pursue legal action. They are requesting a Dutch court to compel Meta to comply with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).
"We feel confident," Fuchs stated, noting a shift in public sentiment against the tech titan. He referenced court rulings in France and Germany where Meta was found liable for promoting illegal gambling ads, adding that he expects the company to attempt relocating proceedings to its Dublin base, where its EU operations are concentrated.
Fuchs pointed out that advances in AI have vastly altered the landscape, stating, "Politics and legislation always lag behind reality, typically by about three years." He mentioned a recent Dutch study indicating that ten leading AI assistants, including Meta AI, identified multiple unlicensed operators, with some suggesting that they were legal. An instance included Microsoft Copilot generating a "Top 50 legal casinos" list that misleadingly included unlicensed brands as if they were KSA-licensed.
Despite these challenges, Fuchs believes change is on the horizon. "And with the DSA in place, I believe the European courts are also moving in that direction," he noted.
VNLOK's legal actions began in June, accompanied by a formal complaint to the European Commission. Fuchs confirmed discussions with various European agencies, although he refrained from providing details. He described offshore operators with licenses as operating "on a small island" while employing tactics akin to "a criminal organization" to evade detection in regulated markets.
He underscored the necessity for collaboration among gambling authorities across countries to address shared challenges. Fuchs also indicated that VNLOK collaborates with trade organizations in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK, France, and Spain, pointing out that regulators need to catch up with the pace of change, insisting, "Meta is a European problem."
"I am confident that they are piling up evidence and insight at a European level, and that they will start moving," he stated, emphasizing the urgent need for action regarding gambling regulations. The summons was officially lodged at the Amsterdam District Court, though no hearing date has been set, and preliminary jurisdictional disputes may delay proceedings.
