Ads on social media platforms driving users to illegal gambling websites: DIF Report
Analyzing traffic sources to these platforms revealed that social media contributed 42.8 million visits during the three months.
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The Digital India Foundation, a non-profit think tank, has called for a joint collaboration between Meta and Google to combat illegal betting and gambling platforms operating in India. A report titled "Illegal Gambling and Betting Market in India: The Scale and Enablers" analyzed digital platform policies and found that while strict regulations exist for paid advertisements, enforcement remains inconsistent.
India’s illegal gambling and betting ecosystem operates through a sophisticated network involving digital advertisements, social media and messaging platforms, and payment technologies such as cryptocurrency. This illegal sector exceeds $100 billion per year and is rapidly growing at a rate of 30% annually, fueled by increasing digital adoption, technological advancements, and regulatory uncertainty.
According to the report, the scale of illegal gambling and betting in India is staggering, with 1.6 billion visits recorded in just three months (October to December 2024) across four analyzed platforms—Parimatch, Stake, 1xBet, and Battery Bet. Analyzing traffic sources to these platforms revealed that social media contributed 42.8 million visits during the three months. This traffic stemmed from direct paid advertisements through Facebook’s ad network, promoted content, influencer marketing, and social media engagement campaigns.
Dr. Arvind Gupta, Head and Co-Founder of the Digital India Foundation, stated, "The rise and expansion of illegal betting platforms have created an environment where Indian users become desensitized to the fact that they are engaging with illegal platforms. Addressing this issue requires more than just blocking these websites—it demands a comprehensive strategy targeting the entire ecosystem enabling illegal betting and gambling operations. This includes addressing user acquisition through advertising, payment operators, and software providers that support these platforms."
The report emphasizes that Indian government agencies such as the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Department of Consumer Affairs, and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) should establish collaborations with digital advertising intermediaries, including social media platforms, search engines, and ad networks, to proactively monitor, flag, and remove illegal betting and gambling-related advertisements.
The report found that referral traffic generated 247.5 million visits to illegal gambling sites, primarily from adult sites, sports-related websites, streaming services, and file-sharing/hosting media platforms.
The study also found that illegal operators heavily rely on communication platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram for promotion. Influencers with millions of followers use "Channels" to broadcast gambling ads, mimicking social media influencer marketing and enabling instant mass outreach.
Additionally, the study discovered that Meta hosted 1,040 ads across all its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, under just the keywords "gambling" and "betting." Traffic driven by both sponsored and user-generated content included platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp Web, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Reddit, and others.
