Australia has become the latest country to criticise Meta over its handling of illegal gambling advertising, after the tech giant allegedly ignored multiple complaints related to unlawful betting promotions on Instagram.
According to local reporting, Australian authorities and watchdogs filed more than a dozen complaints concerning Instagram content published by influencer Dinah, who repeatedly promoted the offshore crypto casino Rainbet to an audience of around 800,000 followers.
In several posts, the influencer encouraged users to follow the link in his profile and register on the platform. One of the promotional posts reportedly generated over 16,000 likes, highlighting the reach and engagement of the content.
Despite the complaints, Meta declined to remove most of the posts, stating that the content “does not violate community standards on fraud.”
Legal conflict in Australia
Under Australian law, however, such advertising is illegal, particularly when promoting unlicensed offshore gambling operators. As a result, the influencer could face fines of up to AUD 2.4 million for breaching national gambling and advertising regulations.
