Europe could fine social media companies over illegal gambling ads, but the KSA wants a tight case first

The Dutch gambling regulator is preparing for a possible legal fight with Big Tech over illegal gambling adverts. Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) chairman Michel Groothuizen says the agency should keep pushing for voluntary cooperation from platforms while also getting ready to use legal measures if that fails.

1. Groothuizen, writing on the KSA website, frames the choice as whether authorities should try to “seduce or fight” large tech platforms — and says the answer may be both. The regulator’s message is that social media companies are unlikely to give up the revenue from illegal gambling ads without pressure.
2. He says Big Tech earns “an enormous amount of money” from ads for illegal gambling providers in the Netherlands, Europe, and worldwide, calling it a “multi-billion dollar industry” that contributes significantly to platform profitability. In other words: on paper these companies can moderate the ads; in practice, the money points the other way.
3. The KSA believes it can gather enough evidence to show that these platforms facilitate prohibited activities in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, but Groothuizen also says any legal process could be dragged out. That matters for operators and PSPs because enforcement here is not just about policy statements — it is about building a case that can survive a long fight.
4. The Dutch industry association VNLOK has already taken its own route, pursuing legal action against Facebook. In June, VNLOK submitted a complaint against Meta to the European Commission. So the regulator is not acting in a vacuum; the pressure is already moving through both industry and regulatory channels.
5. The KSA is also working with European regulators, Google and Meta through a joint task force, including plans for an EU-wide whitelist of licensed gambling operators. For licensed brands, that whitelist idea is the part to watch: it is the closest thing in this story to a cleaner distribution channel for ads, if it actually lands.

Groothuizen compares the platforms to “bandits” with “practically inexhaustible financial resources,” which gives you the basic posture here: the regulator expects resistance, and it is trying to line up cooperation, evidence, and a legal route at the same time.