In a debate held by the Dutch House of Representatives' Gambling Committee on Thursday, lawmakers expressed a unanimous commitment to enhance enforcement against illegal gambling sites. The committee's discussions lasted three hours and covered a range of topics, including black market activities, advertising regulations, and setting the legal gambling age at 18.
Committee members, representing a diverse political array, reviewed multiple research papers and a letter from Justice State Secretary KT van Bruggen dated April 2026, which assessed gambling-related risks and acknowledged the KSA's findings that channelisation had fallen below 50%. Despite varied opinions on many topics, all members agreed on the need for a stronger stance against illegal gambling.
Several parties, particularly members from ChristenUnie, PRO, and SGP, unified in their call for increased enforcement aimed at black market operators. They urged the government to take more aggressive action to block illegal websites, paralleling existing powers to swiftly address sites related to terrorism or child pornography.
There was substantial call to empower the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulator, to take stronger measures against payment processors, social media platforms, and affiliates that enable illegal gambling. Van Bruggen noted that the cabinet is drafting legislation to implement DNS blocking for illegal websites, with a public consultation expected in early 2027.
The debate also shed light on the rising presence of illegal gambling site advertisements on social media, an issue that has prompted the Dutch sector to pursue legal action against Meta. Van Bruggen stated, “Meta, especially as one of the parties, but also Google, is really open to this conversation.” She also revealed that the government would receive biannual reports on the prevalence of illegal gambling ads on these platforms. She argued that this problem needs to be addressed on an EU level through the Digital Services Act.
From the VVD party, candidates encouraged the government to adopt a “harder stance” towards these major tech companies.
The legal gambling age in the Netherlands also stirred fresh debate, with some lawmakers suggesting it should be raised from 18 to 21. This is not the first time the parliament has considered this change; a 2025 proposal had already suggested increasing the age for “higher-risk” gambling activities, such as online slots. However, Van Bruggen cautioned that moving the age limit might inadvertently push young individuals towards unlicensed gambling options.
Diederik van Dijk of the SGP and Tijs van den Brink of the CDA were among those advocating for the age increase, emphasizing the importance of the issue in future progress reports.
Van Dijk took a more extreme view, calling for a complete rolling back of the 2021 online gambling legislation that had initially fostered a relatively mature legal market for the sector. He expressed concern over recent tighter restrictions and increasing taxes imposed on licensed operators. Additionally, he suggested a ban on all forms of gambling advertising, including for lotteries and land-based casinos. He criticized the government’s involvement with state-owned entities like Holland Casino and Nederlandse Loterij, particularly regarding efforts to mitigate gambling-related harms.
Recently, Holland Casino CEO Petra de Ruiter highlighted the company's robust player protection initiatives, outlining their responsible gambling board, which engages various experts to review and challenge their operational strategies.
The debate ultimately emphasized the need for enhanced supervision and player protection. State Secretary van Bruggen affirmed that prioritizing actions against the black market would come first, adding that the question of raising the gambling age would be reconsidered once progress has been made in controlling illegal activities. “It is time to tackle that illegal offer properly, so that we can move towards a time when we do have to move towards an age increase. If that turns out not to be necessary, then we don’t do it,” she stated.
