VNLOK announced on 22 June that it is taking Meta to court in the Netherlands and filing a complaint with the European Commission. The trade body says Meta has failed to curb illegal gambling advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.
Legal Action Moves to Court and Brussels
The argument is based on the Digital Services Act. VNLOK argues that very large online platforms must take adequate measures to limit the risk of illegal content, especially when the problem is structural and large-scale.
The trade body is seeking a Dutch court ruling that Meta was in breach of its obligations and ordering it to take corrective measures, failing which, it should face penalty payments. In Brussels, VNLOK has requested the European Commission to investigate and enforce actions where necessary.
Football Images Add Pressure
More attention was drawn to the case because illegal gambling ads on Instagram allegedly used images of Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo without permission. Dutch media reported that the ads appeared while the 2026 World Cup was under way.
For VNLOK, the issue goes beyond the footballers’ image rights and into consumer protection. Known football players could give an impression of greater safety of unlicensed gambling websites. The same applies to advertisements of illegal gambling operators that use the names or trademarks of recognized brands.
Such advertisements could mislead users from the Netherlands into using unlicensed gambling websites. Those sites operate without a KSA licence and outside the Dutch player-protection framework.
Ad Numbers Show the Scale
VNLOK says its monitoring found an average of more than 70,000 Netherlands-targeted gambling ads on Meta platforms in the last quarter of 2025. More than 95% of gambling promotions detected by VNLOK were conducted by gambling operators who have not been licensed in the Netherlands.
Removal rates were low. According to VNLOK, less than 5% of those ads were removed by Meta. VNLOK claims that those illegal operators continue coming back with new accounts, domains, pages and creatives.
That is why VNLOK goes further than just requesting the removal of ads. Its argument is that reports after publication cannot match the speed of short-lived campaigns.
Platform Role Becomes the Test
Dutch gambling enforcement has already moved deeper into social media. The KSA has flagged thousands of advertisements promoting illegal gambling activities on Meta platforms this year. Now, the licensed operators are also demanding that the platform take some responsibility.
The dispute also arises at an important juncture for the Dutch gambling industry. Licensed operators face strict advertising limits, while unlicensed brands can still reach Dutch users through fast-moving social campaigns.
This case is less about one batch of ads and more about who controls the entrance to the illegal market. If VNLOK gains ground, European gambling enforcement may shift further upstream, toward advertiser checks, domain screening, and prevention before campaigns go live.
