Facebook Removes Unlicensed Norwegian Gambling Pages

Facebook has removed 36 pages belonging to the online gaming operators who are accused of targeting Norwegian punters without local permission. Facebook removed the pages after being notified by Norway’s gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet that the pages violated Norway’s gambling laws.

Among the operators cited in the announcement were the Gamesys Group’s Vera&John online casino brand, Coolbet’s Kommunepoker and Vennepoker brands, Gaming Innovation Group’s Rizk brand and Cherry AB’s ComeOn brand.

The Norwegian-language pages encouraged customers to patronise the internationally licensed gambling sites that compete with Norway’s state-run operators Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. In addition to cracking down on unauthorized marketing, Norway’s government has been targeting payment processing and imposing domain-blocking to ensure the financial health of its online monopoly.

Lotteritilsynet legal eagle Monica Alisøy Kjelsnes said the 36 pages not only violated Norway’s gambling laws but also “Facebook’s own guidelines.”

This is hardly the first time that Norway’s regulator has convinced Zuckerberg to pull gambling operators’ Norwegian-facing pages, with examples on this site dating back to 2014, while also convincing YouTube to conduct its own Norwegian-language gambling purge.