Widespread Suspected Illegal Advertising of Paid Loot Boxes and Social Casino Games in Belgium: Empowered by the EU Digital Services Act to Assess Compliance Using Meta's Ad Repository.
7 affiliations
- 1School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, [email protected].
- 2beClaws.org, London, UK, [email protected].
- 3College of Health and Science, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
- 4Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- 5School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies, London South Bank University, London, UK.
- 6Media Culture and Policy Lab, KU Leuven, Belgium.
- 7School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
Abstract
Introduction
Paid loot boxes and social casino mechanics are gambling-like products inside video games that provide random rewards in exchange for real-world money. These products may cause harm to vulnerable consumers, e.g., children and adults experiencing gambling harms. Most countries do not presently regulate these mechanics as gambling because the random rewards do not possess real-world monetary value as defined by law. Uniquely, Belgium's gambling law does not have that requirement, where paid loot boxes and social casinos therefore constitute unlicensed and illegal gambling, and providing these products is a criminal offence. However, this "ban" has not been enforced due to the gambling regulator lacking resources, so these products remain widely available. We investigated whether, beyond failing to remove these products from the Belgian version of app stores, companies are also paying to advertise games containing them on social media to specifically attract Belgian users, which would constitute an additional crime of advertising illegal gambling.Methods
We gained access to demographic-based (country, age, and gender) targeting and reach data through the EU Digital Services Act, which requires very large online platforms (e.g., Instagram and Facebook) to provide repositories for all advertising shown and associated audience demographic data.Results
Concerningly, 172 popular games with illegal paid loot boxes and social casino games were widely advertised in Belgium. We studied 1,574 ads, which were viewed over 4.5 million times by Belgian users, including conceivably 544,000 times by under-21s (estimated based on our hypothetical assumptions), who are not legally permitted to gamble online in Belgium.Conclusion
Policymakers should hold social media platforms and app stores accountable for conducting effective content moderation and ensuring illegal games and ads are not available to local users. More data access opportunities should be mandated by law in the EU and beyond to aid research and policy enforcement.
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BibTeX
@article{xiao2026widespread,
title = {{Widespread Suspected Illegal Advertising of Paid Loot Boxes and Social Casino Games in Belgium: Empowered by the EU Digital Services Act to Assess Compliance Using Meta's Ad Repository.}},
author = {Leon Y Xiao and Elena Petrovskaya and Nicole Khoo and Maarten Denoo and Amanda Roberts},
journal = {European addiction research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1159/ear/acrag008},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42891958},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Widespread Suspected Illegal Advertising of Paid Loot Boxes and Social Casino Games in Belgium: Empowered by the EU Digital Services Act to Assess Compliance Using Meta's Ad Repository.
AU - Leon Y Xiao
AU - Elena Petrovskaya
AU - Nicole Khoo
AU - Maarten Denoo
AU - Amanda Roberts
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
JO - European addiction research
DO - 10.1159/ear/acrag008
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42891958
AB - Introduction Paid loot boxes and social casino mechanics are gambling-like products inside video games that provide random rewards in exchange for real-world money. These products may cause harm to vulnerable consumers, e.g., children and adults experiencing gambling harms. Most countries do not presently regulate these mechanics as gambling because the random rewards do not possess real-world monetary value as defined by law. Uniquely, Belgium's gambling law does not have that requirement, where paid loot boxes and social casinos therefore constitute unlicensed and illegal gambling, and providing these products is a criminal offence. However, this "ban" has not been enforced due to the gambling regulator lacking resources, so these products remain widely available. We investigated whether, beyond failing to remove these products from the Belgian version of app stores, companies are also paying to advertise games containing them on social media to specifically attract Belgian users, which would constitute an additional crime of advertising illegal gambling.Methods We gained access to demographic-based (country, age, and gender) targeting and reach data through the EU Digital Services Act, which requires very large online platforms (e.g., Instagram and Facebook) to provide repositories for all advertising shown and associated audience demographic data.Results Concerningly, 172 popular games with illegal paid loot boxes and social casino games were widely advertised in Belgium. We studied 1,574 ads, which were viewed over 4.5 million times by Belgian users, including conceivably 544,000 times by under-21s (estimated based on our hypothetical assumptions), who are not legally permitted to gamble online in Belgium.Conclusion Policymakers should hold social media platforms and app stores accountable for conducting effective content moderation and ensuring illegal games and ads are not available to local users. More data access opportunities should be mandated by law in the EU and beyond to aid research and policy enforcement.
SN - 1022-6877
SN - 1421-9891
ER -