In a major setback to operators in the Netherlands, Dutch MPs have approved numerous motions to outlaw ‘high risk’ online casino games.
Further intensifying the framework around gambling in the Netherlands, there was also a vote to stop the marketing of online gambling.
The pair of motions were pushed by Socialist Party (SP) MP Michiel van Nispen, as part of the Kamer’s ongoing revision of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA Act), the legislative framework adopted in October 2021 to regulate the Netherlands’ online gambling marketplace.
As a result, 114 motions were proposed by MPs to amend KOA market laws, standards and protections of which 14 were voted on this afternoon.
Van Nispen’s first motion to impose a ‘total ban on online gambling advertising’ secured 70 out of 150 MP votes, failing to gain an outright majority but approved due to ministerial absences.
The vote reverses previous stances on the matter having rejected in February a motion by CDA MP Derk Boswijk “to investigate a total ban on gambling advertisements”.
As such, the vote sees the Kamer favour imposing a blanket ban on all gambling advertisements as KOA amendments applied in July 2023 enforced a ban on gambling advertising on the ‘public platforms’ of TV, radio, print and outdoor media.
Addressing MPs, Van Nispen stated: “The KOA market is sick through and through. Every day that these companies continue their bad practices, more people become addicted to gambling.
“As far as we are concerned, it is the end of the story for gambling companies without morals. A ban on online gambling advertisements is another step forward towards a country without bad gambling companies.”