French gambling regulator expands advertising oversight procedures to cover web3 games
The ANJ’s cooperation with the French advertising watchdog will be expanded to cover games with monetisable digital objects.
Key takeaways:
- France’s gambling regulator, the ANJ, is expanding its advertising oversight partnership with the ARPP, strengthening scrutiny of gambling marketing campaigns and extending cooperation to the emerging JONUM regulatory framework.
- The enhanced agreement will cover gambling-like products involving monetisable digital objects, including sectors linked to blockchain technology, NFTs and crypto-assets, as France develops a common regulatory approach for these markets.
- Licensed gambling operators remain subject to strict advertising controls, including submitting promotional strategies for approval in advance.
France.- The French gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has confirmed plans to expand the oversight framework governing the advertising obligations attached to online gambling licences in the country. The move broadens cooperation between the ANJ and the French advertising watchdog, the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP).
The ANJ and ARPP have collaborated since 2023, when they established their first cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening the monitoring of gambling advertising in France and its impact on the wider public. Under the arrangement, the ARPP acts as an independent observer of online gambling marketing activity, ensuring that campaigns comply with the standards set out in the ANJ’s advertising charter.
The charter obliges licensed online gambling operators to submit their advertising and marketing strategies to the ANJ six months before launch. Those plans are then assessed by the regulator against ARPP guidelines.
Pascal Chevremont, the newly appointed President of the ANJ, has announced that responsibilities covered by the partnership will now be expanded to cover objectives related to JONUM, the ANJ’s regulatory initiative focused on the governance of online gambling-like games with monetisable digital objects. Launched at the beginning of 2026, the JONUM project seeks to create a common regulatory framework for emerging sectors, including products involving blockchain technology, NFTs and crypto-assets.
As part of the revised agreement, the organisations will report on several JONUM-related measures. These include ANJ participation in reinforcing the gambling-focused elements of the ARPP’s Responsible Commercial Influence Certificate, ARPP involvement in the ANJ’s review of voluntary advertising charters covering television, radio, outdoor and digital advertising, and the continuation of information-sharing on proposed gambling campaigns.
These charters complement the ANJ’s advertising guidelines introduced in 2022. The rules prohibit marketing that portrays gambling as a means of achieving financial security, social advancement or an alternative to employment. Operators are also barred from trivialising gambling, overstating winning opportunities or using personalities and imagery that could have particular appeal to minors.
Core regulatory requirements remain in place, with the ANJ reiterating that licensed operators must submit their annual promotional strategies for regulatory approval, enabling the authority to examine advertising content, messaging and promotional activity, including “advertising expenditure, bonuses, social-media campaigns and sponsorship activity.”
During proceedings in 2026, the ANJ instructed all licensed operators not to exceed previously declared promotional spending limits and introduced tighter controls on expenditure across different marketing channels.
