Kansspelautoriteit Issues 14 Warnings for COVID-19-related Ads

The Netherlands’s gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has revealed that it has issued 14 warnings to igaming operators over the use of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in adverts to promote their gambling products.

Online gambling remains illegal in the Netherlands, but the regulator in March said it had seen an increase in the number of operators targeting consumers in the country with advertising based around the pandemic.

According to the KSA, it has so far recorded 14 cases of operators using terms such as “Coronavrij gokken” (Corona-free gambling) to promote their products to Dutch players.

The KSA issued a warning to the operators demanding them to remove the ads, and in all cases, the ads in question were withdrawn. The regulator added that had the operators not dropped the ads, it would have imposed financial penalties. In March, the KSA set a minimum penalty of €250,000 for operators that did not comply with its orders to remove adverts related to the pandemic.

The rules apply to all igaming operators, affiliates, review sites and unlicensed land-based active in the Netherlands – all of which already face penalties for illegal activity in the country due to the current laws for online gambling.