The UK-based non-profit organization Open Rights Group (ORG), which defends digital rights and privacy while fighting against unfair and unlawful data use, has released a report focused on digital rights and user well-being. The report questions Facebook’s policy under which campaigns aimed at addressing gambling-related harm are more tightly regulated than advertisements promoting gambling itself.
The report, titled “Profiling by Proxy: How Meta’s Targeted Ads Fuel Discrimination”, states that Meta demands more transparency from ads that highlight the harms of gambling than from those that promote gambling products.
Currently, advertising related to gambling harm is classified as “political advocacy” and is therefore subject to enhanced transparency requirements and mandatory public disclosure. Meanwhile, commercial gambling ads – including promotions for “social casino” games – are subject to far less oversight, particularly when they do not fall under restricted categories.
As a result, Meta’s advertising policy has created a paradox in which it is more difficult to promote socially responsible gambling harm campaigns than to advertise gambling products directly on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
“Placing ads that call for political action on problem gambling comes with more conditions and restrictions than standard gambling ads,” the report notes. While political ads are tightly regulated and logged in public databases, regular gambling promotions often escape similar scrutiny.
ORG points out that targeted advertising poses the greatest risk to vulnerable groups, including people suffering from gambling addiction, young people, and individuals facing financial hardship or mental health challenges.
The report describes how data from gambling websites is transferred to Meta through tracking tools such as Meta Pixel, which enables platforms to bombard users with gambling-related content – often without proper consent.
“The ads came not only from sites that had unlawfully shared data, but from a wide range of others as well,” the document notes, highlighting a systemic failure in preventing data misuse.
The situation is made worse by user profiling, in which Meta collects thousands of behavioral data points to create digital profiles that predict personal traits – including addictive tendencies – and target users accordingly.
A particularly concerning issue is the exposure of minors to harmful content. Despite stated restrictions, Meta has repeatedly failed to enforce its policies.
In a 2024 study by the Tech Transparency Project, researchers managed to get ads approved for weight loss, alcohol, and gambling = targeting audiences aged 13 to 17 – using Meta’s own generative AI tools.
“Despite formal restrictions, social media companies make vast profits by selling ad space seen by minors,” the report emphasizes. “The rise of generative AI is likely to worsen existing problems of opacity and lack of accountability, and could amplify discriminatory targeting.”
AI systems learn from historical user engagement, which means they may replicate or even deepen existing biases, including the profiling of users with signs of gambling addiction or mental health issues.
“Fairness and equal access are not the platform’s priorities,” the report states bluntly. Profit remains Meta’s central concern.
ORG calls for a fundamental rethinking of how digital advertising and user consent operate on social media platforms owned by Meta.
The organization argues that profiling should be opt-in, not a default setting, and that equal transparency standards must apply to all advertising = not just political or advocacy content.
The UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is also facing increasing pressure to investigate opaque advertising algorithms and data-tracking practices, especially after a landmark High Court ruling in which a former problem gambler successfully sued Sky Bet. He proved that the company had targeted him with gambling ads without his valid consent. Sky Bet allegedly used cookies and third-party data to build a behavioral profile.
The urgency for reform is reinforced by upcoming regulatory changes. Starting May 1, 2025, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will require online gambling operators to allow users to opt in to specific product types, let users select their preferred communication channels and ensure users do not receive gambling promotions without explicit consent.
While these UKGC measures apply to gambling operators, campaigners insist that the same standards must now be applied to tech giants like Meta, which have largely avoided accountability up to this point.
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