French Gaming Regulator Publishes the List of Sites That Have Been the Subject of a Blocking and Delisting Order

March 16, 2023 | illegal gambling

PARIS, France (March 15, 2023) — The fight against the illegal offer of gambling is a priority and constant concern of the National Gaming Authority. For the past year, the ANJ has had a new power to block and delist illegal gambling websites as well as those advertising them. To enable players to better identify illegal sites, the ANJ now publishes on its site the blacklist of sites that have been the subject of an administrative blocking decision.

In France, the legal online gambling offer is offered by 17 licensed online gambling operators and one operator holding a lottery monopoly (LA FRANCAISE DES JEUX). Only the gaming sites of these operators are authorized. All other sites are illegal and carry multiple risks for players.

Indeed, when a French Internet user plays on an illegal site (for example, in France, all online casino sites are illegal, no casino license can be granted under the legal framework in force), it exposes you to multiple risks:

Collection of personal data;
Payment fraud;
Installation of malicious computer programs on the computer or mobile phone without the knowledge of the player;
Frequent non-payment of winnings;
Absence of any measure to prevent excessive gambling and underage gambling;
A total absence of legal recourse in the event of a dispute with the site.

The administrative order of blocking and delisting: first assessment of the new instrument to fight against the illegal offer of gambling and games of chance

The law aimed at democratizing sport in France, promulgated in March 2022, has strengthened the means of the action of the National Gaming Authority in the field of the fight against illegal gambling sites.

The law thus replaced the legal procedure for blocking illegal gambling sites with an administrative blocking procedure. Despite the efforts of the magistrates of the Paris Court of Justice, to facilitate the process, a period of 4 to 6 months usually passed between the moment when an illegal site was identified and the moment when the judge rendered his decision to block.

From now on, the president of the ANJ can, under the control of the administrative judge, prescribe to the providers of access to the French Internet to block the access of the sites which propose an illegal offer of gambling and the sites which make the advertisement.

After a formal notice addressed to the publisher and the host of an illegal site, which remained unanswered for 5 days and in the absence of voluntary withdrawal of the illegal content, the president of the National Gaming Authority may order, on the one hand, to Internet service providers to take any useful measure to block access to this content on French territory, and on the other hand, to search engines and directories, to delist it.

The first administrative blocking and delisting order issued by the President of the National Gaming Authority was issued on June 13, 2022.

To date, 152 administrative blocking and delisting orders have been taken, following which 532 URLs relating to illegal gambling content have been blocked. The processing time for a file is now between 1 and 2 months.

Publication of the blacklist of illegal sites that have been blocked and the possibility of reporting

Finally, to enable players to better identify illegal sites, the ANJ publishes on its site the blacklist of sites that have been subject to administrative blocking. This list, which will be updated monthly, is however not exhaustive of all existing illegal sites. Also, as a precaution, before gambling on a gambling site, it is better to consult the list of approved operators and that of La Francaise Des Jeux.