National Police Board allowed to ban social media influencer for illegal marketing of gambling

Helsinki Administrative Court has rejected an appeal filed by a party against the decision of the National Police Board. The decision of the Administrative Court upheld the view of the National Police Board that the party's activities had constituted the marketing of gambling services in violation of the Lotteries Act.

Under its decision of 8 March 2024, the National Police Board had prohibited a Finnish natural person from the marketing of gambling in violation of the Lotteries Act. A conditional fine of €33,000 had been imposed to enforce the prohibition. The party concerned had engaged in marketing on the Twitch streaming service and on YouTube. The party had, among other things, shared links to partner sites advertising gambling services on the party’s Twitch and YouTube accounts and in live broadcasts. In addition, the party had livestreamed the gambling services advertised on the aforementioned partner sites on the Twitch service. The marketing of gambling services had been multi-channel and long-lasting. The purpose of the activities has been to attract consumers residing in mainland Finland as customers and thus encourage participation in gambling services in Finland. The party concerned appealed against the National Police Board's prohibition decision to Helsinki Administrative Court.

National Police Board decision upheld

In its decision of 26 March 2025, the Administrative Court found, among other things, that the appellant's activities had been a matter of marketing gambling services in mainland Finland. The Administrative Court found that the appearance of the logo of a website advertising online casinos and the presentation of links to the website, as well as the livestreaming of gambling services other than those of Veikkaus, constituted indirect marketing of gambling, which in turn could be considered as encouraging participation in gambling in mainland Finland. The Administrative Court further held that, taking into account the language used in the marketing, the marketing could be considered as being targeted at Finland and Finns in particular.

“The decision of the Administrative Court can be considered very significant in many ways, as it confirms the position of the National Police Board that this kind of influencer marketing of gambling services is unequivocally prohibited when targeted at mainland Finland,” says Laura Rinne, Senior Adviser, Gambling Administration at the National Police Board.

Should the party concerned continue to market the gambling services prohibited by the decision, the National Police Board will take steps to impose the conditional fine. 

An application has been made for leave to appeal the decision from the Supreme Administrative Court.