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Widespread Illegal Advertising of Loot Boxes and Social Casino Games in Belgium: Empowered by the EU Digital Services Act to Assess Compliance Using Meta’s Ad Repository

Author

Listed:
  • Xiao, Leon Y.

    (IT University of Copenhagen)

  • Petrovskaya, Elena
  • Khoo, Nicole
  • Denoo, Maarten

    (KU Leuven)

  • Roberts, Amanda

Abstract

Loot boxes and social casino mechanics are gambling-like products inside video games providing random results in exchange for real-world money. These products may cause harm to consumers, e.g., children and adults experiencing gambling harms. Most countries do not regulate these mechanics as gambling because the random rewards do not possess real-world monetary value as defined by law. Conversely, Belgium uniquely regulates both as unlicensed and therefore illegal forms of gambling; offering these products is a criminal offence. However, this ‘ban’ has not been enforced due to the regulator lacking resources, so these products remain widely available. We investigated whether, beyond failing to remove these products through inaction, companies are also paying to advertise them on social media to specifically attract Belgian users, which is an additional crime. We gained data access through the EU Digital Services Act requiring large online platforms (e.g., Facebook) to provide repositories for all advertising shown and associated audience demographic data. Concerningly, 172 popular games with illegal loot boxes and social casino games were widely and illegally advertised. We studied 1,574 advertisements, which were viewed over 4.5 million times by Belgian users, including 1.26 million times by under-21s. Many other ads we did not study were also widely circulated. The regulator should hold social media platforms and app stores accountable for conducting effective content moderation and ensuring illegal games and ads are not available to local users. More data access opportunities should be mandated by law in the EU and beyond to aid research and enforcement.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao, Leon Y. & Petrovskaya, Elena & Khoo, Nicole & Denoo, Maarten & Roberts, Amanda, 2025. "Widespread Illegal Advertising of Loot Boxes and Social Casino Games in Belgium: Empowered by the EU Digital Services Act to Assess Compliance Using Meta’s Ad Repository," OSF Preprints jc6ks_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:jc6ks_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/jc6ks_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiao, Leon Y. & Henderson, Laura L. & Yang, Yuhan & Newall, Philip W. S., 2024. "Gaming the system: suboptimal compliance with loot box probability disclosure regulations in China," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 590-616, July.
    2. Nima Kordzadeh & Maryam Ghasemaghaei, 2022. "Algorithmic bias: review, synthesis, and future research directions," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 388-409, May.
    3. Xiao, Leon Y. & Lund, Mie, 2025. "Assessing compliance with UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on the implementation process," OSF Preprints xmwgy_v1, Center for Open Science.
    4. David Zendle & Paul Cairns, 2018. "Video game loot boxes are linked to problem gambling: Results of a large-scale survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Xiao, Leon Y. & Lund, Mie, 2025. "Assessing compliance with UK loot box industry self-regulation on the Apple App Store: a longitudinal study on the implementation process," OSF Preprints xmwgy, Center for Open Science.
    6. Xiao, Leon Y. & Deery, Callum & Petrovskaya, Elena & Park, Solip & Newall, Philip, 2025. "Widespread illegal video game advertising in the UK and South Korea: Many adverts not disclosing loot box presence found using Meta’s ad repository," OSF Preprints jqng5_v1, Center for Open Science.
    7. Shaun Stephen Garea & Aaron Drummond & James D. Sauer & Lauren C. Hall & Matthew Neil Williams, 2021. "Meta-analysis of the relationship between problem gambling, excessive gaming and loot box spending," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 460-479, September.
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