VNLOK Cites EU Digital Services Act Scam Study in Meta Gambling Ad Fight

Dutch trade body VNLOK links the Commission's Digital Services Act scam study to its Amsterdam case against Meta over gambling advertisers.

Jerome McNamaraSenior Reporter

Published 2 November 20264 min read

Key takeaways

The European Commission published its Digital Services Act study on financial scams on online platforms on 20 October 2026, written by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting.
The study sets out four categories of countermeasures: access and gatekeeping, detection and removal, user-facing tools, and platform policies and cooperation.
Dutch trade body VNLOK summoned Meta before the Amsterdam court on 28 September 2026 and asks it to rule that Meta is not meeting its DSA obligations.
VNLOK is using the study to demand advance checks of gambling advertisers' licences and better detection of cloaking and messaging-app referrals, according to iGaming Expert.
The Commission says the study does not evaluate compliance by very large platforms, so it contains no finding against Meta.

Dutch gambling trade body VNLOK is citing the European Commission's Digital Services Act study on financial scams as it presses its Amsterdam court case against Meta over illegal gambling adverts on Facebook and Instagram, with the Commission having published the study on 20 October 2026.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is the EU regulation that sets duties for online platforms, including risk assessment and mitigation for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs). The Commission study is an evidence base for how it supervises those duties. VNLOK is the party turning it into a gambling argument.

What the Commission published

The study is titled "Digital Services Act study on financial scams on online platforms and ways to counter them." Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting wrote it under a support contract for the Commission's DG CNECT, its communications networks directorate. The Publications Office of the EU lists a release date of 16 October 2026, and the Commission posted it on 20 October 2026.

The Commission states that the study does not evaluate compliance by VLOPs or VLOSEs. It makes no finding against any named platform.

It describes six scam categories: investment, romance, e-commerce, employment and collaboration, unexpected gain, and charity or disaster relief. It also lists the platform features involved: advertising systems, recommender systems, monetisation, app stores and private messaging, fake identities, deceptive commercial content and generative AI.

Countermeasure category	Examples given by the Commission
Access and gatekeeping	Know-your-business-customer and identity checks
Detection and removal	Automated tools and human review
User-facing tools	Features that help users spot and report scams
Platform policies and cooperation	Internal rules and work with third parties

VNLOK's case against Meta

VNLOK announced on 22 June 2026 that it would summon Meta and file a complaint with the Commission, according to a Dutch report reproducing its announcement. Meta was summoned before the Amsterdam court on Monday 28 September 2026, as reported by CasinoBeats. VNLOK asks the court to rule that Meta is not meeting its DSA obligations.

VNLOK said more than 90% of the Facebook gambling ads it examined were illegal, according to InsideBitcoins. The group has pressed the issue for some time; earlier Gamingo coverage tracked how VNLOK and NOGA raised concerns over illegal gambling and how Dutch trade bodies launched a portal to tackle illegal gambling.

Date	Event
22 June 2026	VNLOK announces summons of Meta and a complaint to the Commission
28 September 2026	Meta summoned before the Amsterdam court
16 October 2026	Publications Office release date for the study
20 October 2026	Commission publishes the study

What VNLOK wants from platforms

VNLOK chair Björn Fuchs told iGaming Expert that the study "clearly shows" the scale of the fraud challenge on very large platforms. He connected it to the court case and to platforms' DSA responsibilities.

According to iGaming Expert, VNLOK is calling for two changes:

Verification of gambling advertisers' licences before their ads are shown.
Stronger detection of cloaking and of referrals sent through messaging apps.

The first demand maps onto the study's access and gatekeeping category, which includes business-customer and identity checks. The second maps onto detection and removal, and onto the private messaging features the Commission lists. These are VNLOK's positions, and the court has not ruled on them.

Wider DSA enforcement context

The study sits alongside other Commission activity on scams. Around the same time, the Commission opened a consultation on a voluntary Code of Conduct on online fraud and scams under the DSA, bringing banks and online platforms together.

Enforcement is also moving. The Commission fined X €120 million under the DSA on 5 December 2025. Booking.com faces a DSA probe announced on 21 October 2026 over scams and paid listings not labeled as ads, with Articles 34, 35 and 26(1) cited, according to PPC Land.

For gambling, the pressure on large platforms is not limited to the Netherlands. Gamingo has covered Big Tech's role in Europe's gambling black market and, earlier, Brazil's warnings to tech giants over betting ad rules.

What operators and affiliates should watch

Licensed operators and affiliates should expect advertiser-verification questions to feature in DSA debates. If the Amsterdam court accepts VNLOK's reading, platforms could face expectations to check gambling licences before ads run. Marketing teams should be ready for stricter onboarding checks on ad accounts and for closer scrutiny of messaging-app funnels.

The Commission's complaint process and the court's timetable will decide how quickly any of this reaches advertisers.

Status reviewed on 2 November 2026. Study details come from the European Commission and Publications Office pages, while VNLOK's court and policy positions come from trade press and a Dutch report of its announcement. More regulation news and EMEA coverage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Commission's Digital Services Act study on financial scams?

It is a study published by the European Commission on 20 October 2026, produced by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting. The Commission procured it in 2025 to support its supervision and enforcement under the Digital Services Act. It covers scam types, platform features that enable them and four categories of countermeasures.

Why is VNLOK suing Meta?

VNLOK, a Dutch gambling trade body, says Meta is not meeting its Digital Services Act obligations on illegal gambling adverts on Facebook and Instagram. Meta was summoned before the Amsterdam court on 28 September 2026. VNLOK asks the court to declare that Meta is falling short of those obligations.

Does the EU study find Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act?

No. The Commission states that the study does not evaluate compliance by very large online platforms or very large online search engines. It is an evidence base for supervision. Any argument that Meta falls short comes from VNLOK's reading of the study, not from a Commission finding.

What does VNLOK want platforms to change?

According to iGaming Expert, VNLOK wants platforms to verify gambling advertisers' licences before ads run and to improve detection of cloaking and of referrals through messaging apps. Its chair, Björn Fuchs, tied those demands to the court case and to platforms' responsibilities under the Digital Services Act.

What are the Digital Services Act countermeasures against scams?

The Commission's study groups them into four categories: access and gatekeeping, including know-your-business-customer and identity checks; detection and removal, both automated and human-reviewed; user-facing tools; and platform policies and cooperation with third parties. They apply to features such as ad systems, recommender systems and private messaging.