The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), a body that regulates gambling in the Netherlands, has reported that the casino operator Betent has breached the local advertising standards. The gaming company’s prohibited actions have earned it a fine, the regulator added.
As reported, Betent’s Betcity.nl online gaming brand promoted gaming content to young adults – people aged 18 to 24. For reference, this is strictly forbidden under Dutch law as it is considered to constitute advertising to a vulnerable target group.
Following a broadcast on Kassa, a local TV program, the KSA launched an investigation and found out that the operator had been violating this rule between October 2021 and March 2022.
In its announcement, the KSA noted:
The brains of young people are still developing. As a result, they are extra susceptible to gambling addiction.
KSA statement
Betent Will Have to Pay a Fine
As it turns out, Betent had been incentivizing people aged 18-24 to play for months. While they weren’t the operator’s only target audience, many such people received promotional messages, inviting them to play with Betcity.nl.
As a result, the KSA slapped Betent, Betcity’s parent company, with a €400,000 (roughly 438,000, current conversion rates) fine.
René Jansen, chairman of the Kansspelautoriteit, commented on the matter, highlighting the importance of protecting young people from gambling harm. He reiterated that the law prohibits casino companies from targeting young adults with their marketing campaigns.
Jansen added that the Kansspelautoriteit will continue to closely monitor the sector and sanction companies that violate these guidelines. He concluded that it is important for gaming companies to respect the rules and protect vulnerable customers from harm and addiction.
The Netherlands Will Ban Untargeted Ads
The current fine comes in the wake of other fines the KSA handed following its investigation. In the past month, three gaming companies were found guilty of breaching the Dutch regulations on advertising and penalized as a result. The fine handed to Betent is the fourth fine handed as a result of this investigation.
At the beginning of this month, Franc Weerwind, the Dutch minister for legal protection, commented on the topic of gambling advertisements and said that the government will proceed with its ban on untargeted ads.
Weerwind explained that, unfortunately, gambling companies rarely can be trusted with self-regulating their marketing activity. Some of them, he noted, have been actively marketing their products even when they have been asked by the KSA to be mindful of their audiences.
The Netherlands plans to ban untargeted ads from July 1 this year.
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