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The Paris Court of Appeal has delivered a decisive ruling against Meta Platforms Ireland, confirming that the company must take active steps to block illegal gambling advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
The case was brought forward by Groupe Lucien Barrière, a major operator of hotels and casinos, after thousands of ads appeared online using its brand without permission to promote unlicensed casino apps.
Barrière argued that these ads not only misused its trademarks but also violated French law, which prohibits online casino advertising. The court agreed, rejecting Meta’s appeal and upholding earlier orders that require the company to filter and prevent such content.
The judgment, handed down on January 28, 2026, followed months of legal exchanges between the two sides.
Meta received order to filter gambling ads in 2024
Barrière discovered in late 2023 that its brand was being used in online ads across Meta’s platforms.
These ads promoted gambling applications that are banned in France. After documenting how large the problem was, Barrière issued formal notices to Meta demanding the removal of the ads and disclosure of the advertisers’ identities. Meta refused, forcing Barrière to take the matter to the Paris court.
The initial order in January 2024 required Meta to filter gambling ads and preserve data about the advertisers. Meta challenged the order, arguing that it had no general duty to monitor content. However, the court rejected this defense, stating that the urgency and large number of the ads justified immediate intervention.
Evidence showed that more than 2,400 ads were circulated by hundreds of accounts, some even copying the design of Barrière casinos to mislead users. The ruling now obliges Meta to use its own automated systems to detect and block gambling ads that reproduce Barrière’s marks or promote casino-style games without authorization.
What does this mean for the industry?
Meta’s appeal was dismissed, and the company was ordered to pay legal costs along with €10,000 to Barrière under civil procedure rules. The measures must remain in place for a year, ensuring that gambling ads using Barrière’s name or imagery are blocked across Meta’s platforms.
This will not be the first time Meta has been criticized for illegal gambling promotions. In the Netherlands, trade group VNLOK said in late January that its review of Meta’s Ads Library showed more than 95 percent of gambling ads reaching Dutch users came from unlicensed operators.
The group argued that this undermines the country’s regulated market, where players are supposed to be directed towards licensed sites with stronger safeguards.
Just days earlier, the UKGC raised its own alarm. Speaking at ICE in Barcelona on January 19, executive director Tim Miller pointed out that ads promoting sites “not on GamStop” were appearing on Facebook and Instagram and slammed Meta for failing to apply filters.
The problem even goes beyond Europe. In Malaysia, regulators have clashed with Meta over new licensing rules meant to curb scams and gambling ads. Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil revealed that of 168,000 takedown requests sent to Facebook, about 120,000 involved gambling content, and the company has been slow to respond.
Even Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office issued a formal notice last August demanding Meta to remove unauthorized gambling promotions under its new betting laws.
With all this considered, it is clear that there’s a global pushback for Meta to do more than react after complaints, and we might just see more lawsuits in the coming months.
