Estimates of over 15,000 Illegal gambling have been shown to Dutch users in just one month.
Meta platforms hosted an estimated 15,114 illegal gambling ads in the Netherlands in March, generating up to 75 million impressions through Instagram and Facebook.
The illegal gambling ads are predicted to have generated over €10m per year for Meta from unlicensed brands’ advertising, according to research from the Responsible Affiliates Quality Mark (KVA) and Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK).
The trade bodies stressed these figures are “indicative estimates”.
Annually, the research found these illegal gambling operators’ ads generated a total of 910 million impressions, with 70 million coming from those ages 18 to 24.
This, the trade bodies argued, is fuelled by structural patterns that boost the growth of illegal gambling ads on Meta’s platforms.
This is not the first time Meta has been accused of tolerating illegal ads. In fact, the tech giant is reported to have earnt roughly 10% of its ad revenue from scam and illegal gambling ads, prompting legal action from the state of California.
This comes as tech platforms face increasing legal action for risking user safety to fuel algorithms, with leaked documents revealling Meta “failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads” that exposed billions of users to “fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products”.
The structural issues the report referred to are the ‘rapid reappearance’ of ads once they are removed, alongside the wrongful use of trademarks from well-established brands.
Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) chair, Michel Groothuizen, said in October that social media companies are enabling the growth of the illegal market, and urged gambling regulators to “enter a dialogue” with social media platforms, banks and payment service providers.
He said they must not “be afraid to stir things up and act against these parties ourselves, however much we need them”.
