Toto Online, a famous Netherlands brand owned by the Nederlandse Loterij, must pay a fine of 400,000 euros due to targeting in their marketing campaigns.
Taking prohibited actions:
The Gaming Authority recently found out that the company has run its ads in an illegal manner by targeting young adults, which is strictly prohibited.
Young adults are those between 18 and 23 years old, and they aren’t allowed to be included in the target audience for any online or offline casino.
The Gaming Authority found that Toto Online included the whole customer base in its advertising campaign.
The company started sending messages on October 1, 2021, when the legal market for online gambling started working. The campaign has been run since February 1, 2022. During this time, the company has been breaking the law, specifically the Dutch Remote Gambling Act, which is established to regulate the online gambling market across the country. Its duties also include licensing and compliance of the operators.
The campaign contained much information regarding the brand and the newest events, tools, and discounts regarding Toto Online. Young adults also received messages about different bonus offers from the gambling provider when they weren’t supposed to receive any offers at all.
By Dutch law, licensed operators are not allowed to target the audience of young adults in their campaigns. It applies to any kind of advertising, regardless if they are registered users.
The campaign ended on February 1 this year.
René Jansen, chairman of The Gaming Authority, said: ‘The law says that vulnerable groups, including young adults, must be given extra protection. The brains of young people are still developing. As a result, they are extra vulnerable to developing a gambling addiction. Gaming providers must fully respect the rules intended to protect vulnerable groups. That did not happen here, and therefore this fine.’
Protecting young adults:
Young adults belong to the vulnerable group who need extra protection in cases like this one. That’s why The Gambling Authority has scheduled a meeting with the directors of the Family Entertainment Centers Netherlands.
The Gaming Authority found out that two more iGaming companies have broken the law, but we still don’t know the names just yet. One of them has been targeting self-excluded individuals, while another one promoted illegal gambling. Both of these actions are prohibited, so the companies will have to face the consequences of their actions. We hope to provide updates on this as more details are made public.