Norway Reviews Gambling Enforcement After 81 Million Offshore Visits

Norway’s culture minister, Lubna Jaffery, has requested a review of measures against illegal online gambling after an NRK investigation identified more than 81 million visits from Norway to offshore casino websites over a year.

The broadcaster identified 782 sites with Norwegian-language adaptations. One website accounted for more than 53 million visits, indicating substantial concentration within the reported traffic. 

The figures count visits, rather than individual players, gambling accounts or deposits. They therefore cannot establish how many people gambled or how much money was spent.

Documents Identify Norway as Target Market

NRK examined leaked documents from Curaçao’s gambling authorities. At least 130 companies explicitly named Norway as a target market in applications or business plans.

The investigation linked the websites to Curaçao-based operators lacking Norwegian permission. A licence held elsewhere does not authorise a company to direct gambling services at Norway, the Norwegian Gambling Authority said. 

Government to Assess Blocking Measures

Jaffery asked the Norwegian Lottery and Foundations Authority to evaluate the effectiveness of existing measures and possible regulatory changes.

The review includes DNS blocking, whose regulatory framework will have been in force for two years in January 2027. The minister said website blocking should be considered alongside other restrictions, including the prohibition on payment services for unauthorised gambling. 

The review does not itself introduce new restrictions or establish that every website identified by NRK was already subject to a blocking order.

Opposition politicians have questioned both enforcement effectiveness and the resources allocated to it. Jaffery maintained that Norway has a strong regulatory framework but acknowledged the need to keep its implementation effective as technology changes.