The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has launched a stinging public critique of Meta, accusing the tech giant of failing to police illegal gambling advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaking at the ICE conference in Barcelona on January 19, Tim Miller, the Commission’s Executive Director, dismantled Meta’s defense that it is unaware of illicit activity until reported, labelling such claims as “simply false.”
Predatory Ads Targeting Vulnerable Players
Miller’s primary concern focused on the proliferation of advertisements marketing gambling sites as “not on GamStop.” GamStop is the UK’s national self-exclusion scheme, designed to prevent registered individuals from accessing online gambling platforms. By explicitly targeting this keyword, black market operators are aggressively courting vulnerable individuals attempting to block themselves from gambling.
Miller argued that the illegal market is effectively “feeding off the same channels” that the licensed industry relies upon. He noted that the regulator can easily identify these violations within minutes using Meta’s own tools.
“It allows anyone to search keywords such as ‘not on GamStop’ and see active ads being paid for on the platform,” Miller said, pointing out that the regulator should not have to perform the platform’s basic compliance duties.
Rejecting the “Reactive” Approach
The dispute highlights a fundamental clash between regulatory expectations and platform policy. While Meta’s guidelines ostensibly restrict unauthorized gambling promotions, the UKGC argues that enforcement is far too passive. Miller revealed that discussions with Meta had yielded “very limited progress,” with the company suggesting the regulator should use AI tools to find and report the ads for removal.
Miller dismissed this suggestion, noting he would be “very surprised” if Meta lacked the internal keyword technology to block these ads proactively. The regulator insists that reliance on reactive reporting is insufficient when ads are openly violating local laws.
A Global Compliance Issue
The friction between the UKGC and Meta reflects a broader global challenge. Miller emphasized that this pattern of evasion and lax enforcement is repeated “country by country,” forcing regulators worldwide to expend public resources on policing platforms that generate revenue from these very ads. As scrutiny on digital advertising intensifies, the UKGC’s public intervention signals a push for major platforms to be held accountable for the black market content they host.
