Lithuania: employee fined for placing illegal gambling ads

The employee of a digital media business has been fined for placing ads with prohibited content. 

Lithuania.- The Lithuanian Gambling Supervision Authority has again issued a fine against an individual employee for breaching rules on gambling ads. 

In November, the Lithuanian gaming regulator issued a €1,500 fine against a Cbet employee. 

Now it’s fined an employee at digital media business UAB All Media Digital the same amount for placing illegal gambling ads on the basketball news site Krepšinis.net.

It found that the site was hosting gambling ads featuring slogans, animated backgrounds and promotional bonuses, all of which are prohibited under Lithuania’s rules for gambling advertisements. The ads also failed to include mandatory warnings.

The regulator said Krepšinis.net had been a “refuge for illegal gambling advertising for several years” thanks to its registration overseas, which made it difficult to enforce regulations.

However, the regulator found that all ads were placed by an employee at UAB All Media Digital, which provides advertising services for websites. As a result, it was able to take action against the individual rather than the website. 

The regulator said: “With gambling advertised on Krepšinis.net, law-abiding Lithuanian portals found themselves in an unequal situation, and citizens were illegally encouraged to participate in gambling.”