The Commission has accused Meta of failing to act on illegal gambling advertisements appearing on its platforms – but still no mention of unlicensed machine sellers.

Speaking at the ICE Barcelona trade show, the regulator’s executive director Tim Miller said Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, was “turning a blind eye” to illegal online casinos promoting themselves to UK users. He said it was “more than likely” that anyone spending time on the platforms would have encountered such adverts and rejected claims that Meta was unaware of the problem until notified. 

“It could leave you with the impression they are quite happy to turn a blind eye and continue taking money from criminals and scammers until someone shouts about it,” he said, adding that the issue was easy to verify, pointing to Meta’s own advertising tools. 

“If we can find them then so can Meta,” continued Miller. “They simply choose not to look.”

In response, Meta argued that it enforces strict rules on gambling advertising and removes ads that breach its policies once identified, but that it will work closely with the regulator. Meanwhile, the Commission continues to turn a blind eye to the sale of machines on Facebook by unlicensed sellers, many of whom would be very easy to find – if the regulator chose to look.