Dutch parliament united on illegal market enforcement as government pledges open dialogue with Meta and Google

During a Gambling Committee debate on Thursday the Dutch House of Representatives vowed to make enforcement on illegal sites faster and tougher.

The three-hour debate on the Dutch gambling sector centred on a number of issues, including the illegal market, advertising and the legal age limit of 18.

Ten committee members, spanning the full political spectrum, addressed a number of research papers, sector activity reports and Justice State Secretary KT van Bruggen’s April 2026-dated letter, assessing the risks of gambling, and acknowledging the KSA’s estimation that channelisation had dropped below 50%.

While there were differing views on much of the content, one area in which Dutch MPs were united was the illegal market.

The majority of parties, including those representing the ChristenUnie, PRO and SGP, all voiced their opinions that increased enforcement against black market operators should be carried out.

Members pushed the government for further action to block illegal websites, in the same way it provides power to quickly address terrorist and child pornography sites.

Working with Meta and Google

Members advocated for stronger powers to be given to Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the regulator of gambling in the Netherlands, with tougher action taken against payment providers, social media sites and affiliates that facilitate illegal gambling.

Van Bruggen revealed the cabinet was in the process of developing legislation to introduce DNS blocking for illegal sites, with a consultation due for early 2027.

Members flagged the growing issue of illegal gambling sites’ advertising appearing across social media, an issue the sector in Netherlands has sought to tackle directly through legal action against Meta.

Speaking on behalf of the government, Van Bruggen said: “Meta, especially as one of the parties, but also Google, is really open to this conversation.”

She said the government would receive a report every six months on illegal gambling advertising across these platforms. She insisted the issue should also be dealt with at an EU level, through the Digital Services Act.

Candidates from the VVD party urged the government to take a “harder stance” against these big tech platforms.

Gambling age debated once again

Some politicians stated their opinion that the legal gambling age in the Netherlands should be increased to 21 from the current barrier of 18 years old.

This isn’t the first time this policy has been mooted in the Dutch parliament. A 2025 bill proposed raising the age for “higher-risk” activities like online slots.

Van Bruggen insisted more time was needed to establish whether an age limit hike to 21 would actually have the adverse effect of pushing young people in the Netherlands towards unlicensed offerings.

Among those pushing for the increased age limit were the SGP’s Diederik van Dijk and the CDA’s Tijs van den Brink.

Van Bruggen said the matter would be raised in subsequent progress reports.

Van Dijk urges full reversal of gambling legislation

Beyond raising the age limit to 21, Van Dijk called for a complete reversal of the Netherlands’ 2021 online gambling legalisation, which helped establish a reasonably mature legal gambling market for the sector, until tighter restrictions for players, and increased taxes, struck licensed operators in recent years.

Van Dijk also voiced his opinion that all gambling advertising should be banned, including for lotteries and land-based casinos.

He also questioned the government’s involvement with the state-owned entities Holland Casino and Nederlandse Loterij, especially in its assessment on how to limit gambling harms.

Holland Casino CEO Petra de Ruiter last week told iGB that she was proud of the player protection efforts in place across Holland Casino’s products.

Holland Casino has a responsible gambling board, which includes scientists, experts with lived experience and their own RG executives. They meet with the board every few months to talk over current processes, and the board challenges the operator’s ideas and implementations, 

Much of the debate focused on stricter supervision and the protection of players. Ultimately, the secretary of state said that work to increase black market enforcement would take precedent in the Netherlands, while increasing the gambling age would be revisited once the illegal market is under control.

“It is time to tackle that illegal offer properly, so that we can move towards a time when we do have to move towards an age increase. If that turns out not to be necessary, then we don’t do it,” she said.