Sweden moves to block Duel.com over ongoing consumer targeting

The regulator says the offshore operator failed to adequately prevent Swedish consumers from accessing its platform.

Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has issued an immediate prohibition order against Immortal Snail LLC, the operator behind offshore gambling platform duel.com. The move escalates regulatory action against a company that has attracted significant controversy for its marketing practices.

Immortal Snail operates duel.com under a licence issued by the Anjouan Gaming Authority and has become increasingly well known in recent years for provocative promotional campaigns across social media. More recently, the Anjouan Gaming Authority itself has become a focus of controversy. While it claims to be governed by the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority on the Indian Ocean island under Comoros law, the Comoros government denies this and says it aims to take legal action over what it has described as an unauthorised licensing regime, as cited by The Guardian.

Spelinspektionen said the ban against Duel was introduced in the interests of consumer protection, targeting a platform that the regulator believes continues to make its services available to Swedish consumers despite lacking a local licence.

The regulator says that Immortal Snail has been unwilling to remove Swedish-language content from its platform, a factor often considered by regulators when assessing whether gambling services are being actively directed at consumers within a particular market. Spelinspektionen also raised concerns about the company’s proposed approach to restricting Swedish access.

It said the operator made references to IP-blocking Sweden but found no evidence of measures designed to prevent Swedish customers from accessing the platform through alternative means. According to the authority’s investigation, even the limited safeguards discussed by the company had not been fully implemented.

“The Swedish currency SEK and Swedish as a language still appear when logging in from a Swedish IP address. Furthermore, the regulator has noted continued Swedish-language marketing of the company’s website duel.com,” Spelinspektionen said.

How much impact the Swedish regulator’s order will have remains to be seen. Regulators across multiple jurisdictions have long struggled to take action against offshore operators, many of which continue operating despite receiving penalties, warnings or cease-and-desist orders.

Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Guardian have suggested that Anjouan licences are being facilitated by a London-based company ACS Global Custodian, reportedly linked to the Sorsky family in Britain. They have denied ACS’s involvement in gaming licences.