Compliance Updates
Spillemyndigheden Blocks 83 Illegal Websites
The Danish Gambling Authority has been successful in the court in Næstved to have 83 websites that offer illegal gambling in Denmark blocked.
It is the 10th time that the Danish Gambling Authority has gone to court to have illegal websites blocked, and the DGA has now intensified its efforts to block illegal sites.
Since 2012, when the gambling market in Denmark was partially liberalised, the Danish Gambling Authority has blocked illegal websites that offer games such as betting and online casinos to Danes without permission. Blocking of the websites takes place through the court, and on 15 February 2024 the court in Næstved agreed with the Danish Gambling Authority that all 83 websites that the report referred to must be blocked. In total, the Danish Gambling Authority has blocked 359 illegal sites since 2012.
Anders Dorph, Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, said: “We have intensified our work to shut down the illegal sites, so that we now get them blocked twice a year instead of once as previously. In this way, we can get hold of even more sites and minimize the period when Danish players are exposed to games that are offered illegally in Denmark.
“Children and young people in particular are a vulnerable group. For instance, many of the illegal websites have very lenient requirements for age verification. Some of the sites also offer games that particularly appeal to children and young people, such as skin betting.”
The Danish Gambling Authority constantly monitors the gambling market to detect illegal gambling. Automated searches are used, but the Danish Gambling Authority also follows up on reports from citizens and businesses. If the Danish Gambling Authority discovers pages that offer illegal gambling, the Danish Gambling Authority informs the owners of the pages of the infringement and asks them to stop the illegal offering. If they do not stop, the Danish Gambling Authority requests the district court to have the illegal sites blocked. The procedure is this way because it is the Danish internet providers who must implement the blocking of the illegal gambling websites.
The blocked websites mainly offer traditional casino games such as roulette, slot machines and poker as well as betting. Eight of the websites are so-called skinbetting websites. Skinbetting covers betting, casino games and lotteries where the deposit and/or winnings are a skin, which is a virtual object in computer games.