Finland’s National Police Board has issued prohibition orders and penalties to a number of influencers for promoting unlicensed gambling.
The prohibition orders to two social media influencers require them to cease promoting unlicensed gambling and remove any illegal gambling-related content that they have already published, failing which they will become liable to a fine of €30,000 each.
The orders were notified to the influencers in May and made public on 3 September.
The Police have also issued a payment order to a third influencer who was previously served with a prohibition notice and €30,000 penalty.
The payment order was issued after the police found that the influencer had continued to provide marketing for gambling, despite the prohibition order.
All three influencers are said to have promoted online gambling services for a long period of time and through multiple channels, particularly the Twitch and Kick streaming services.
In all three cases, the marketing was for non-Finnish gambling companies and was carried out from outside Finland.
“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,” said Tomi Sallinen, senior adviser at the National Police Board. “Only Veikkaus Oy is allowed to market gambling in mainland Finland.”
Finland’s monopoly gambling market will be liberalised in January 2027, allowing private operators to offer online sports and horse race betting and iGaming under a Finnish license.