The gaming regulator in the Netherlands, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), slapped Bingoal with a €400,000 ($428,000) fine for targeting young adults with advertising messages.

Targeting Young Adults

The hefty financial sanction dished out to Bingoal is the fifth slapped by the KSA on gambling operators under the same investigation for violations of the regulations prohibiting games of chance advertising to be aimed at young people.

The KSA investigation concluded that Bingoal breached the underlying regulations of the Betting and Gaming Act, namely Article 2, Paragraph 4, preamble and (a) of the Decree on Recruitment, Advertising and Addiction Prevention of Games of Chance by sending advertising messages to users aged between 18 and 24 between October 12, 2021, and March 15, 2022.

Young adults (18-24) are considered a vulnerable group due to the extreme susceptibility of the human brain at this age to develop a gambling addiction and to protect them from these risks the law prohibits operators from targeting that age group with direct advertising messages.

The Legal Certainty Principle

In its defense, Bingoal did not deny sending the advertising messages during the aforementioned period, arguing that the messages were not specifically aimed at young adults but were rather general advertising messages directed at players, claiming that just because these messages happened to reach young adults does not constitute a violation of the Article 2, Paragraph 4, (a) of the advertising and addiction prevention decree.

Bingoal focused on the part of the legal standard containing the words “aiming at,” arguing that there are several ways of interpreting this one of which is that it pertains to the content of the advertisement and not to its scope, and is therefore putting the standard in conflict with the legal certainty (lex certa) principle.

Bingoal concluded that its advertisements were not targeted at young adults and that it has not violated Article 4a, Paragraph 2 of the Betting and Gaming Act and Article 2, Paragraph 4, preamble and (a) of the advertising and addiction prevention decree.

Operator’s Second Transgression

The financial sanction imposed on Bingoal is the second for the gambling operator since the start of 2022, following the €350,000 ($375,000) it received from the Dutch gaming regulator in February when the KSA found the operator in breach of the regulation related to the national gambling self-exclusion register, Cruks.

Another recently punished operator by the Dutch gambling regulator was Merkur Casino Almere which was fined €45,000 last month for multiple occasions of letting a Cruks-registered customer enter the casino premises and gamble.

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The gambling regulatory authority in the Netherlands, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), announced it imposed a hefty fine against Hillside New Media Malta, a Bet365 company, operating currently in the country. Details regarding the €400,000 ($373,600) regulatory penalty against the operator emerged Friday. Upon announcing the sanction, the KSA claimed that the operator breached the rules related to advertising to young adults.

Per the current Dutch regulatory framework, advertising targeting young adults, aged 18 to 24 is prohibited. Keeping in mind that this target audience is yet to mature, the law restricts gambling operators from engaging in such advertising. A prime reason for this restriction is that young adults can be vulnerable to easily developing a gambling addiction.

“The brains of young people are still developing. As a result, they are extra vulnerable to developing gambling addiction. Gaming providers must fully respect the rules intended to protect vulnerable groups,“

reads a statement released by the KSA

The new fine comes after the KSA probed into Hillside’s operations. According to the regulator, young adults, aged 18 to 24, registered with the company between October 26, 2021, and February 1, 2022, were contacted with ads offering bonuses. Considering the existing regulations, the KSA said that such interactions are prohibited and therefore enforced the €400,000 ($373,600) fine. At the same time, the regulator noted that this is the third fine imposed against an operator due to advertising to young people.

“The KSA found that Hillside had directed advertisements and bonuses to young adults (18-24-year-olds) registered with Hillside in the period from October 26, 2021 to February 1, 2022. That is prohibited. This is the third fine for a permit holder for advertising aimed at young people,“

explained the KSA

A Busy Period for the KSA

The latest fine against Hillside comes after last week, the KSA introduced another financial penalty against Gammix. According to the regulator, the company offered its services to Dutch customers without the necessary license. That breach dated back to last year but the operator was given a chance to remedy the situation. Since no remedial action was taken by Gammix, the KSA ordered the company to pay a €4,410,000 ($4.7 million) fine.

Before that, earlier in March, the KSA announced fines against five operators surpassing $27 million. The regulator said that the fine comes after it uncovered that the operators offered their services without a license for the Dutch market.

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