Dutch gaming regulatory body Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) announced Thursday it entered into a partnership with Facebook to address the issue of illegal lotteries in the country, which use groups on the social media platform to promote their activities.

Illegal Lotteries Run through Facebook

The partnership with the social network will allow the KSA to report illegal online lotteries, known as “dipping” or dip-lotteries which organize their unlawful business by advertising through Facebook. The regulator’s actions are in response to the growing numbers of reported cases for such operations which run through the social media platform.

When such activity is discovered, the KSA will contact its organizers and inform them about the submitted report to Facebook regarding the unlawful activity, as well the request for the removal of the Facebook group in question due to violation of the Dutch law.

“Games of chance, such as lotteries, where participation must be paid for, may only be offered if a license has been granted. It is not possible to obtain a permit if there is a commercial objective; the law says that at least 40 per cent of the proceeds should go to charity.”

Kansspelautoriteit

From then on, Facebook will investigate the report and will act alongside its guidelines, as it does not want to provide opportunities for illegal activities. So far, there have been 13 cases of illegal lotteries organized through the social media reported by the KSA.

The Fastest Way to Stop Gambling Act Violations

Due to the collaboration, several groups have already been removed by the social media platform, the KSA outlined in its statement, highlighting the approach as “the fastest and most effective way to stop violations of the Gambling Act”.

The partnership agreed between the KSA and the social media platform is the latest attempt of the regulator in the Netherlands to oust illegal operations, protect licensees and make gambling safer for the public. By the end of October, the regulatory body introduced new gaming regulations to suspend the use of limited-time offers by operators as a protection measure for people vulnerable to gambling harm.

Stripping operators of the enticing marketing tools of “only today”, “for quick decision-makers” and “happy hour”, the KSA sought to prevent gamblers from impulsive actions that may lead to excessive gambling. Furthermore, the regulator stated that no gambling advertisement should promote gambling as a means of solving financial problems and any such messages would be removed.