Dutch MPs suggest "two strikes and you're out" for gambling marketing failings
MPs argue that more can be done to prevent licence breaches around advertising towards young people as regulation debate in the Netherlands rumbles on
A cross-party group of MPs has proposed a “two strikes and you’re out” model to clamp down on advertising errors in the market.
The new model would see repeat offenders who still advertise towards young people have their licence temporarily or permanently removed.
Under the current rules, Dutch operators are not allowed to engage in untargeted advertising, which means that any advertising needs to be targeted at those over the age of 24.
A set of 10 questions were submitted by Mirjam Bikker of the Christian Union, with co-initiations from Michiel van Nispen of the Socialist Party, Kees van der Staaij of the Reformed Political Party and Songül Mutluer of the Labour Party to Ministers Franc Weerwind and Maarten van Ooijen.
Responses by Weerwind and Maarten have not been made public as of yet.
Recently the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) fined JOI Gaming and TOTO Online €400,000 (£356,042) each after being found to have sent promotional messages to their entire user base, which included those under the age of 24.
The MPs referenced both of these cases in their line of questioning, insisting that more needs to be done to prevent further breaches of the rules.
The KSA has been hot on the issue of advertising in since the online regulated market went live in October 2021.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, the regulator urged operators to avoid excessive marketing, citing potential political backlash.