Romania Orders Meta and Google to Remove Ads for Blacklisted Gambling Sites
Romania’s gambling regulator has issued formal notices to Meta and Google, demanding the immediate removal of paid advertisements promoting unlicensed gambling operators. The ads, found across Meta’s platforms and Google’s search engine, violated national laws and featured websites listed on the country’s official gambling blacklist.
Unlicensed Ads Trigger Official Warning
The National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has called on the two tech firms to urgently investigate the presence of illegal gambling ads, suspend all related sponsored campaigns, and disclose the identities and earnings of the accounts responsible. The regulator also urged both companies to introduce preventative measures to stop similar breaches from recurring.
According to Romanian law, advertising unlicensed gambling services is punishable by fines ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 lei (€9,900–€19,800), with authorities authorised to seize any revenue generated from such activity. Providing payment, promotional, or IT services to unlicensed operators may also constitute a criminal offence.
Context of Regulatory Lapses
The enforcement move comes at a sensitive time for ONJN, which is already under pressure following a critical audit by the Romanian Court of Accounts. The audit, conducted earlier this year, accused the regulator of systemic failings in oversight and revenue collection.
Among the findings were concerns that ONJN had accepted payments from licensed operators without properly validating their activity reports, potentially allowing them to underreport earnings and underpay mandatory fees. Auditors identified nearly 79 million lei in uncollected authorisation fees for 2022 and 2023, with total losses—after including penalties—surpassing 116 million lei.
The report also highlighted ONJN’s failure to install required monitoring systems, including secure access terminals to operators’ servers. As a result, the regulator lacked the tools to verify the accuracy of operators’ financial declarations, undermining transparency and enforcement efforts.