Turkey: Illegal gambling ads lead to 30 accounts blocked

The Turkish Trade Ministry’s review found several social media accounts in breach of gambling regulation.

Turkey: Illegal gambling ads lead to 30 accounts blocked

Key points:  

– 30 social media accounts have been blocked by the Turkish Government 

– The nation’s Advertising Board have deemed that the accounts are in breach of gambling ad regulations 

The Turkish Advertising Board has confirmed via the nation’s Trade Ministry the blockage of 30 social media accounts following a review which found them to be illegally promoting gambling. 

Indeed, the board deemed that advertisements on number of pages were in breach of Turkey’s Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Practices – alongside Consumer Protection Law. Now, the accounts are in the process of being permanently blocked, should the targeted posts not be removed before this action can take place.  

Gambling in Turkey remains subject to highly stringent oversight, with casinos having been banned since 1998 and online gambling prohibited before it every managed to get off the ground in 2006. Famously, Entain was subject to one of the largest fines in gambling history for bribery-related violations relating to its Turkish facing business, leading to a £585m ($786.7m) financial penalty at the hands of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service.  

Good to know: Numerous major social media companies and platforms have been subject to a growing push to comply with strict censorship regulations in Turkey in recent months 

Elsewhere, 113 suspects were also detained in the nation in 2019 for on suspicion of running an illegal gambling den – with a further 709 detained for additional, non-gambling-related crimes.

Although casino gambling has been outlawed for almost two decades, crime syndicates running unregulated casino operations remains an issue in the nation.  

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Will Underwood
Gambling Writer

Will Underwood is a Writer at Players Publishing, contributing news and feature content across the company’s portfolio of leading B2B gaming publications, including Gambling Insider. Since joining the team in March 2024, he has covered key developments in the global gambling and iGaming sectors, delivering clear, timely reporting for an international audience.

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