Gambling advertising under scrutiny in Estonia
Estonia’s consumer protection watchdog has raised concerns about compliance failings.
Estonia.- The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has signalled growing concern over the rise in gambling advertisements in Estonia. The ministry says reforms are in the works but stressed the need to balance commercial freedoms with consumer protection.
The public broadcaster ERR has reported that the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) has raised concerns about compliance breaches under existing restrictions for gambling ads in Estonia.
Diana Lints at the TTJA said: “In 2025, the TTJA carried out a major gambling advertising supervision project and inspected a total of 230 gambling advertisements, of which 104 were found to be in breach. That means 45 per cent of the advertisements inspected were in violation of the Advertising Act,” she said.
She added: “Those breaches varied considerably. They included misleading advertising, warning text in gambling advertisements that did not meet the legal requirements, and games of chance advertisements which, under the law, are prohibited altogether.”
The ministry has responded to confirm that reforms are on the horizon but have yet to be defined. There are already restrictions in place on many verticals.
Mari-Liis Aas, consumer protection adviser at the ministry, said: “If we’re talking about games of chance, which include poker, roulette and slot machines, then advertising is generally prohibited altogether, except in places specified by law, such as gambling venues. At the same time, advertising certain types of gambling, such as lotteries and sports betting, is more broadly permitted, although specific restrictions also apply there,” she noted.
“Since the entire process is still at a very early stage, it is unfortunately not yet possible to say whether or to what extent gambling advertising regulation will be changed in the future,” she said
The country has been aiming to attract international igaming operators. A phased reduction in Estonia’s online gambling tax is to take the rate to as low as 4 per cent from 2029, cutting the rate by half a percentage point each year.
