By the end of August 2024, the Frederiksborg Court ruled in favor of the Danish Gambling Authority, blocking 79 websites that offered illegal gambling to Danes. Among these blocked sites, some were specifically targeting children and young people.
The Danish Gambling Authority annually blocks those websites that provide gambling products and services to Danes without a license. Blocking is an important part of the Danish Gambling Authority's work to protect players and ensure the fairness and legality of the Danish gambling market.
In 2024, the Danish Gambling Authority blocked a total of 162 websites offering gambling services to Danes illegally. This has been the highest number of blocks in one year so far. Since 2012, a total of 438 websites have been blocked in Denmark, making them inaccessible through Danish telecom providers.
The decision to block websites is made by the court, and this year the Danish Gambling Authority has been to court twice to request the blocking of illegal gambling sites. In February, a total of 83 web pages were blocked.
The Danish Gambling Authority uses what is called DNS blocking to prevent access to illegal sites. This means that the connection between the player and the gambling provider's website is blocked by the player's telecom provider. If users try to access a blocked site, they will see a page indicating that the site is illegal and has been blocked by the Danish Gambling Authority.
Anders Dorph, Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, said: "We know some players try to circumvent DNS blocking." – Therefore, it is very important for us to ensure that the information you see is clear and to make players aware that they are trying to access a site without a license. These sites do not have the same level of consumer protection, and it can be very dangerous for players to use them.
Websites not licensed by the Danish Gambling Authority do not necessarily meet the same requirements as licensed sites, so players on illegal sites cannot obtain the same consumer protection and safety.
For example, if you are under 18 years old or have registered in ROFUS (the voluntary exclusion register for players), you cannot play on licensed sites.
The blocked sites offer various types of gambling, such as online casinos, online betting, and skin betting.
In the latest block, 3 out of 79 sites included a new type of skin gambling. Here, players can use "Robux" as a stake and also win the virtual currency Robux in the computer game Roblox.
"We are particularly concerned about these new types of sites," said Anders Dorph. "Roblox is a very popular game among children and teenagers under 18. Our children should not be exposed to gambling while playing video games, so I am glad we have blocked access to these sites."
When the Danish Gambling Authority assesses that a site is offering illegal gambling without a license, it requests the gambling provider to stop providing illegal gambling services. If they do not cease their gambling services, Danish telecom providers are asked to block their customers' access to the site. If this is not done, the Danish Gambling Authority will continue to prosecute the case and request the local court to order the Danish telecom provider to block the site.
In the past, only telecom providers who were members of Teleindustrien participated in the blocking process of the Danish Gambling Authority.
However, in this round of blocking, three telecom providers who are not members of the telecom industry association also blocked access to illegal sites.
All three telecom operators have blocked the sites involved in this blocking process and the sites involved in previous rulings.
"We are pleased that three more telecom providers have shut down access," said Anders Dorph. "This ensures that more players are protected from accessing illegal sites."
