Turkey: Illegal Gambling Ads Lead to 30 Accounts Blocked

The Turkish Trade Ministry’s investigation identified several social media accounts violating national gambling advertising regulations.

Key Points

  • The Turkish Government has blocked 30 social media accounts.
  • The nation’s Advertising Board ruled that these accounts breached gambling advertisement regulations.

The Turkish Advertising Board, through the Trade Ministry, confirmed blocking 30 social media accounts after a review concluded they were promoting gambling illegally. The board found that advertisements on multiple pages breached Turkey’s Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Practices, alongside the Consumer Protection Law, and announced potential permanent blocking if posts are not removed. Gambling in Turkey is tightly regulated, with land-based casinos banned since 1998 and online gambling outlawed in 2006 before becoming fully established.

Entain Hit with Record £585m Fine Over Turkish Bribery Case

Entain received one of gambling’s largest penalties, a £585m ($786.7m) fine from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service for bribery-linked violations tied to its Turkish operations. Many global social media platforms have recently faced stronger pressure to follow Turkey’s strict censorship rules. In 2019, Turkish authorities detained 113 suspects accused of operating illegal gambling houses and arrested 709 others for additional non-gambling crimes. Despite casino gambling being prohibited for nearly twenty years, criminal groups continue managing unlicensed casino operations within the country.

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