Meta is facing renewed scrutiny over illegal gambling advertising in Australia after a report found Facebook and Instagram carrying promotions for unlicensed offshore online casinos. The case also exposed a gap in Australian law that prevents the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) from forcing the removal of the ads.
A report from the Sydney Morning Herald published Aug. 14 found advertisements for offshore casino websites, online poker machine apps, roulette software, and blackjack simulators circulating on Meta’s platforms. Some of the promotions appeared to impersonate well-known Australian casino brands Crown Melbourne and Star, even though neither company operates an online gambling product.
How Offshore Operators Are Slipping Through
The offshore platforms named in the report are based in jurisdictions with looser gambling oversight, ranging from EU countries to smaller licensing hubs like Curacao. Because they operate outside Australia’s regulated framework, they skip requirements that licensed local operators must follow, including mandatory harm-minimization messaging in advertising.
Many of the ads were reportedly placed through affiliate marketing networks, with some affiliates earning commissions of up to 20% on losses generated by referred customers. The report also flagged so-called “scambling” sites — platforms built so that winnings effectively cannot be withdrawn once deposited.
This isn’t the first time Meta’s ad enforcement in Australia has drawn criticism. In February, the Guardian reported that an Australian influencer with more than 800,000 Instagram followers continued promoting an offshore crypto casino called Rainbet despite ACMA warnings that individuals can face fines up to $59,400 and influencers facilitating access to illegal gambling services can be fined as much as $2.4 million.
The Regulatory Loophole Behind It
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, ACMA must establish that a majority of users accessing a given website are physically located in Australia before it can determine an advertising breach has occurred. Because globally hosted gambling platforms draw traffic from users in many countries, meeting that threshold is difficult in practice.
As a result, ACMA’s only real recourse right now is to ask Meta to voluntarily pull the ads — it cannot compel removal or issue penalties directly against the company under the current legal framework. Proposals currently before the Australian parliament would broaden ACMA’s authority to allow action against ads that are simply accessible to Australian users, regardless of where the majority of traffic originates, though that change has not yet become law.
Meta did not directly address questions about the legality of promoting banned gambling sites to Australian users. Regarding the ads impersonating Crown Melbourne and Star, a company spokesperson said Meta had “deactivated advertising accounts linked to this activity for violating our policies” and was continuing to investigate. The company also said tackling illegal gambling requires cooperation among domain registrars, hosting providers, and regulators capable of blocking sites at the source, and pointed to its broader enforcement record, saying it removed more than 159 million scam advertisements globally last year.
Why It Matters
The episode underscores a persistent enforcement gap between social platforms’ global ad systems and country-specific gambling laws. Similar disputes have played out before — in 2023, the ABC reported that Meta had classified an offshore Curacao-licensed operator, BitStarz, as an “authorised gambling partner” even after ACMA had formally warned the casino to stop targeting Australian customers. For bettors, the pattern is a reminder to stick with brands actually licensed in their jurisdiction. Legitimate, regulated online casinos are required to display responsible-gambling tools and licensing information up front — protections offshore “scambling” operators skip entirely.
Until Australian legislation catches up with how global ad platforms actually distribute gambling promotions, enforcement will likely remain reactive — dependent on media reports and voluntary takedowns rather than direct regulatory penalties against Meta itself.
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