TLDR
- Australian media found ads for unlicensed offshore casinos running on Facebook and Instagram
- Some ads appeared to impersonate real casino brands Crown Melbourne and Star
- Current Australian law makes it hard for regulators to force removal of these ads
- A new bill could give regulators power to block illegal gambling sites and payments from 2027
- A separate dispute is playing out in the Netherlands under EU digital rules
Meta is facing fresh scrutiny in Australia after a report found ads for unlicensed online casinos running on Facebook and Instagram. The report came from The Sydney Morning Herald on August 14.
Reporters found promotions for offshore casino websites, online poker machines, roulette games, and blackjack simulators. Some of these ads were still visible weeks after being flagged.
A number of the ads appeared to copy the branding of real Australian casinos. Crown Melbourne and Star were both named, though neither company runs an online casino.
Many of the ads were placed by affiliate marketers. These marketers can earn commissions of up to 20% based on money lost by the customers they refer.
Some of the sites linked in these ads were described as “scambling” platforms. This term refers to gambling sites built so that winnings cannot be withdrawn.
Current Law Limits Regulators
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, the Australian Communications and Media Authority must prove that most users of a site are located in Australia. Only then can it treat an ad as breaking the law.
This is hard to prove for websites hosted overseas that draw users from many countries. Because of this gap, ACMA can ask Meta to take down an ad, but it cannot currently force the company to do so.
ACMA’s own numbers show the size of the problem. In the 2025-26 year, the agency investigated 70 offshore gambling services. All 70 were found to be breaking the law, and 49 of the linked websites were blocked.
New Bill Could Change Enforcement
A proposed law, the Interactive Gambling Amendment Gambling Reform Bill 2026, was introduced to federal Parliament on July 2. It would give ACMA the power to issue formal notices ordering illegal gambling ads to come down.
The bill would also place new duties on internet providers, domain registrars, app stores, and search engines. These companies would need to block access to sites the government designates as illegal operators.
Banks and payment companies would also be required to block transfers of funds to these sites. Most parts of the bill are set to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The bill has been sent to a Senate inquiry, which is due to report back on August 17. That timing places the review right alongside the current public attention on the issue.
Meta is dealing with a similar dispute overseas. In the Netherlands, an industry group called VNLOK took legal action against the company in June and also filed a complaint with the European Commission.
VNLOK said Meta carried more than 70,000 gambling-related ads aimed at Dutch users in the final quarter of 2025. It estimated that over 95% of those ads came from unlicensed operators.
Research commissioned by the group found that these ads reached about 37.9 million Dutch users in March 2026. Most of those views came from people under the age of 24.
Meta has responded by saying that stopping illegal gambling ads requires cooperation from domain hosts and regulators, not just platforms. The company said it removed more than 159 million scam ads worldwide last year.
Crown and Star both said they do not run online casinos and use outside services to track down and report fake sites using their branding. Some advocacy groups have pushed back on Meta’s response.
Gambling Policy Hub director Lauren Levin and researcher Charles Livingstone from Monash University both said Meta already uses stronger ad filtering tools in countries like Ireland and Indonesia. The Senate inquiry report due this week is expected to shape what happens next for regulators in Australia.
