Russia’s State Duma plans a law against casino streamers in autumn, with fines up to 7 million rubles

Deputy Artem Metelev said the State Duma will pass a bill this autumn to close what lawmakers see as a loophole: casino streams and social media posts that promote online gambling without being treated as advertising. For high-risk PSPs and operators, the point is clear enough — Russia is moving from ad bans to broader enforcement against promotion channels.

1. Metelev, described in the text as the State Duma’s main anti-casino campaigner, said the new law is needed because online casino advertising is already banned, but streams and social media posts are not currently treated as ads. The bill would extend restrictions to “any promotion” of this agenda, including advertising, posts, streams, and information distribution in any form.
2. According to Metelev, the main issue is that online casino platforms are mostly based abroad, while “huge amounts” of money leave Russia untaxed. He also said the gaming platforms sponsor the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ВСУ), and that lawmakers need to block not only the sites themselves but also the people and companies still promoting gambling inside Russia, especially among young people.
3. Metelev said around 3 million people in Russia can be classified as gambling addicts in one way or another. That figure is being used by the bill’s backers to frame the measure as a response to a domestic social problem, not just an advertising issue.
4. A group of deputies led by Metelev introduced an earlier anti-casino-streamer bill last autumn. Their argument was that streamers bring more people into gambling even when they are not formally advertising anything.
5. The new law would increase fines for online casino advertising by 200 times: up to 500k rubles for individuals and up to 7 million for organizations. Social media accounts of bloggers who continue to promote online casinos would also be blocked.