The Danish Gambling Authority Has Blocked 79 Illegal Gambling Sites
Among the blocked websites are pages that are particularly aimed at children and young people.
Every year, the Gambling Authority blocks websites that offer games to Danes without permission. The blocks are an important part of the Gambling Authority’s work to protect the players and at the same time ensure a fair and legal gambling market in Denmark.
In 2024, the Gambling Authority has closed access to a total of 162 illegal websites that offer games to Danes. This is the largest number of blockages in a year so far. Since 2012, a total of 438 websites have been blocked so that they cannot be accessed via a Danish telecommunications provider.
The decision to block websites is made by the courts, and the Gambling Authority has been in court twice this year to have illegal gambling sites blocked. In February, 83 pages were blocked.
Illegal websites are DNS blocked
The gambling authority’s option to block access to the illegal websites is done with a so-called DNS block. This means that the connection between the player and the game provider’s website is blocked by the telecommunications provider that the player uses. If you try to access a blocked website, you will be greeted by a page with information that the page is illegal and blocked by the Gambling Authority.
– We know that some players will try to bypass the DNS blocks, says Director of the Gambling Authority, Anders Dorph.
– Therefore, it is very important to us that the information you come across is clear and makes the players aware that they are trying to enter a page without permission. These sites do not have the same level of consumer protection and it can be very risky for a player to play on them.
Websites without permission from the Gambling Authority do not necessarily meet the same requirements as websites with permission, and therefore players do not get the same consumer protection and security on the illegal websites.
It is, for example, impossible to play on a licensed website if you are under 18 or if you are registered in ROFUS (Register of Voluntarily Excluded Players).
New types of illegal websites
The blocked websites offer different types of gambling such as online casino, online betting and skin betting.
In the latest blocking, three of the 79 websites contained a new type of skin betting. Here, players can, among other things, play for and win “Robux”, which is the virtual currency in the computer game Roblox.
– We pay particular attention to this new type of site, says Anders Dorph.
– Roblox is a game that is very popular among children and young people under the age of 18. Our children should not be introduced to gambling when they game, so I am very pleased that we have blocked access to these sites.
Several telecom providers have blocked
When the Gambling Authority assesses that a website offers games illegally without permission, the Gambling Authority asks the game provider to stop the illegal offering. If they do not stop the offer, the telecommunications providers are asked to block their customers’ access to the websites. If this does not happen, the Gambling Authority will proceed with the case and ask the district court to order the Danish telecommunications providers to block the websites.
In the past, only telecommunications providers with membership of the Teleindustrien have been involved in the Gambling Authority’s blocking processes.
In this round of blocking, however, three telecommunications providers who are not members of the Teleindustrien have also blocked access to the illegal websites.
All three telecommunications providers have blocked access to websites with illegal gambling offerings that were included both in this blocking process as well as websites covered by previous rulings.
– We are very happy that three more telecommunications providers have closed access, says Anders Dorph. – This ensures that even more players are protected from being able to access the illegal sites.
Look for the brand
If you want to be sure that you are playing on a website with permission, you can look for the Swedish Gambling Authority’s round permission mark. It is mandatory by law to use the labeling system when you have a license to offer games in Denmark.
FACTS:
When is a game illegal in Denmark?
It is illegal to offer games in Denmark or target the Danish market without a license from the Gambling Authority.
A game is considered to be aimed at Denmark if one or more of the following elements are present:
- Danish language
- Danish currency
- Payment card that only works in Denmark
- Danish customer service
- Connection via Steam (digital distribution platform for computer games)
- The composition of the game offer means that it targets Danish players, for example by offering bets on sports events in lower national ranks
SOURCE: Spillemyndigheden.
