Finland’s National Police Board (NPB) has targeted content creators and influencers whom the agency believes have promoted illegal gambling products on the territory of the country, targeting various individuals for the purposes of driving conversions to affiliated brands.
NPB warns social media influencers to stop promoting gambling in the country
Specifically, the NPB has named two social media influencers, ordering them to cease the promotion of what the agency considers to be illegal gambling. Should they fail to act on the agency’s request, the pair will be liable for a fine of €30,000 each.
In a third case, an influencer had already been penalized €30,000, the police said, after a cease-and-desist notice was issued to them, but they failed to comply. The NPB said that the three streamers have all used the same platforms to promote these gambling products, specifically Twitch and Kick.
The NPB also explained that the promotional activities had been ongoing for an extended period and were not incidental or involuntary. Commenting on the decision, Senior Adviser Tomi Sallinen said:
"It seems to be a common misconception that the marketing of gambling in Finland from outside Finland would be allowed. However, this is not the case. Only Veikkaus Oy is allowed to market gambling in mainland Finland."
The three influencers have promoted the products of non-Finnish gambling companies, and the marketing has been carried out from outside Finland, the police specified.
The police argued that the influencers had affiliate partnerships in place with the platforms they promoted, and they had helped increase the visibility of illegal gambling in the country, hence why the enforcement action was necessary.
