CRGL tries to use every opportunity to fight illegal gambling operators. This fight is especially difficult in the online space, where illegal gambling operators are the most numerous and where they use a wide range of tools to attract players. That is why CRGL is currently strengthening its cooperation with Meta Platforms, Inc. (owner of Facebook and Instagram), which is actually one of the world's largest conglomerates for the placement and promotion of online advertising.
Illegal gambling companies are actively using the online space to advertise their services and attract players. Social networks are the best tool for this purpose. One of the largest such networks, used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide and millions in Ukraine, is Facebook and Instagram. On their pages and news feeds, you can often see banner ads for gambling from illegal online casinos.
It is worth noting that the "legality" or "illegality" of this advertising for our jurisdiction is determined by the possession of licenses for the companies that are advertised. The Facebook and Instagram platforms do not check for these licenses. For them, it is important that this advertising does not violate the terms of the platforms. Therefore, an online casino that does not violate the rules of the platform but does not have a Ukrainian license will be able to advertise, which means that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian users will see it. Impressive technical capabilities of ad customization (targeting) to the target audience will definitely ensure this.
Against the backdrop of the recent ban on legal gambling advertising, this is absurd. How can you ban legal advertising while not reacting to the growth of illegal traffic through social media advertising? In order to fix this, CRGL decided to to establish a partnership with Meta Inc.
The above-mentioned partnership was implemented in pursuance of the decision of the Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine dated April 20, 2024 "On Counteracting the Negative Effects of Internet Gambling". It provides for interaction and information exchange with the multinational company Meta Platforms Inc. which, in particular, manages two of the most popular social networks in Ukraine - Facebook and Instagram. Within the framework of the partnership, CRGL and Meta will take joint measures to counteract the spread of illegal gambling advertising to Ukrainian users on the company's social networks.
Interestingly, in a very short period of time, this information exchange has already yielded the first results. In the last month, 24 illegal gambling ads were blocked on Facebook and 65 on Instagram. It is expected that once the cooperation mechanism is fully established, the number of successful blockings will increase many times over.
Undoubtedly, such initiatives give us hope that the fight against illegal gambling remains a priority for at least some regulatory authorities. I hope that in the near future, the state will find an effective lever to fight lottery operators and interact with completely legal businesses that facilitate illegal lottery activities. The most striking example in this context is the "Play and Win" advertisement from the MSL lottery at the gas stations of one of the largest gas station chains in Ukraine.
КРАІЛ намагається використовувати будь-які можливості, аби з нелегалами боротись. Особливо складною є ця боротьба в онлайн-просторі, де нелегалів найбільше та де вони використовують широкий арсенал засобів для залучення гравців. Саме тому КРАІЛ наразі посилює співпрацю з компанією Meta Platforms, Inc. (власник соціальних мереж Facebook та Instagram), яка фактично є одним із найбільших у світі конгломератів з розміщення та просування онлайн-реклами. Детальніше
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