Online gambling and games

Policy details

CHANGE LOG
Online gambling and games
Meta defines online gambling and games as any product or service where anything of monetary value is included as part of a method of entry and prize. Ads that promote online gambling and gaming are only allowed once an ad account has obtained authorisation. Authorised advertisers must follow all applicable laws and include targeting criteria consistent with Meta's targeting requirements. At a minimum, ads may not target to people under 18 years of age nor unsupported gambling markets (see complete list of unsupported markets below). Learn more in our Business Help Centre.
Overview
To run ads that promote online gambling and gaming, advertisers will need to request authorisation from Meta through the Authorisations and verifications tab in Meta Business Suite (MBS) and provide evidence that the gambling activities are appropriately licensed by a regulator or otherwise established as lawful in the territory they want to target. Additionally, Meta doesn't allow targeting for online gambling and gaming ads to people under the age of 18.
Advertisers must follow our Community Standards, in addition to our Advertising Standards.
Before targeting a new jurisdiction for the first time, advertisers must declare their intent to advertise in the Authorisation and verifications tab in MBS. Advertisers are responsible for their compliance with local regulations and are expected to only run online gambling and gaming ads for which they are legally permitted. Meta is not responsible for how authorised ad accounts comply with local gambling laws and regulations.
Guidelines
In order to promote the following, a Meta authorisation is required:
  • All forms of online gambling. Some common types of gambling include betting, lotteries, raffles, casino games, fantasy sports, bingo, poker, skill game tournaments and sweepstakes.
  • Games where anything of monetary value is included as part of a method of entry and anything of monetary value is included as part of the prize, including but not limited to cash or digital currencies such as Bitcoin. This includes games that require purchases to continue gameplay or provide an advantage in winning prizes in cases where the prize is of monetary value.
  • Ads with destination (landing) pages that contain promotions for online gambling or games, even if there is no opportunity to gamble or game directly on that page, such as aggregator or affiliate sites.
  • Games offering a limited trial period and requiring payment thereafter
Advertisers who receive authorisation cannot target ads to people under the age of 18 and cannot run online gambling and gaming ads in the following unsupported markets:
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bangladesh
  • Egypt
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Korea
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Malaysia
  • Mongolia
  • Myanmar
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
Authorised advertisers should not promote gambling and gaming ads where gambling content is locally not permitted and are responsible for understanding local laws surrounding gambling and gaming ads in the locations where they operate.
Without permission, advertisers can run ads that promote:
  • Physical, real-money gambling activity or establishments, such as "brick and mortar" casinos, entertainment events at casinos or the streaming of offline poker tournaments provided the ad or destination (landing) page does not promote or facilitate online gambling.
  • State or government lotteries, as long as the advertiser is directly or exclusively responsible for running the lottery.
  • Prize promotions that involve purchasing a product at the usual retail price, as long as online gambling isn't the primary business model of the advertiser or any featured brand.
  • Entirely free-to-play games that do not simulate gambling games or offer any opportunity to win anything with monetary value.
Note: Advertisers will need to comply with all applicable local laws when they run these types of ads. Ads should not depict or target minors.
Social casino games, free-to-play games
Ads for social casino games, which are online games that simulate casino gambling (e.g. poker, slots, roulette) where there is no opportunity to win money or money's worth this includes content that indicates the opportunity to win coins of no monetary value, are only allowed if they are targeted to people aged 18 or older. Learn more in our Business Help Centre.
Please note that if the game allows virtual prizes to be bought or sold between players within the game and/or on secondary markets for money or money's worth, please refer to our Online Gambling and Gaming policy above.
Overview
If an advertiser wants to run ads that promote online gambling and gaming where anything of monetary value is required to play and anything of monetary value forms part of the prize, they'll need to request an initial authorisation from Meta. These types of ads are subject to Meta's Online Gaming and Gambling policy.
For more information, visit the Business Help Centre.
Guidelines
Advertisers can run ads for social casino games as long as they:
  • Don't offer the opportunity to win money, coins, gifts or anything of monetary value
  • Don't target people under the age of 18
Social casino games include online games that mirror real-life casino games, such as poker, slots, roulette or jackpots, but don't offer any financial winnings. For example, advertisers can run ads that offer the opportunity to win "coins", as long as the coins don't have any monetary value.
Enforcement
We have the same policies around the world, for everyone on Facebook.
Review teams
Our global team of over 15,000 reviewers work every day to keep people on Facebook safe.
Stakeholder engagement
Outside experts, academics, NGOs and policymakers help inform the Facebook Community Standards.