British Gambling Commission calls for industry alignment to combat illegal gambling
Tim Miller, Executive Director of Research and Policy at the Gambling Commission, urges more cooperation between regulators and the licensed industry to tackle illegal gambling.
UK.– Tim Miller, executive director of Research and Policy at the Gambling Commission has recommended joint action againsy affiliates, advertisers and technology companies that work with licensed operators while also providing services to the illegal market.
Speaking at ICE Barcelona 2026, Miller delivered a conference titled “Whose Side Are You On? Aligning Regulatory Fire Power with Commercial Leverage”. He emphasised the role the industry can play in “strangling those third parties that facilitate unscrupulous operators to steal your customers or exploit vulnerable consumers.”
Miller said: “As a global, regulated industry you have significant economic muscle and considerable commercial leverage. And for all of us here today with a shared desire to fight against the illegal market – well, I think we have overlooked this important and powerful weapon in our arsenal. And it’s time we deploy it.”
He went on to say that companies across the sector should ask themselves three key questions to help achieve that objective:
- How does your business embed the management of illegal market risks into its procurement, contractual and commercial decision-making?
- What due diligence are you conducting with your suppliers and contractors to ensure they are not working with your illegal, unregulated competitors?
- What contractual provisions can you put in place to prevent them from working with illegal operators, or to make the consequences too severe if they do?
Miller criticised social media platforms, particularly Meta, for failing to prevent the advertising of illegal gambling. He called the situation a “window into criminality” and rejected claims that the platform is unaware of illegal gambling ads unless notified.
Miller said: “Companies like Meta will tell you that they don’t tolerate the advertising of illegal sites and will remove them if they are notified about them. But that approach suggests that they don’t know about those ads unless alerted. That is simply false.”
He concluded by stating that government, regulators and industry should no longer tolerate “anyone having a foot in both camps” and must work together “to force those companies to pick a side.”
During his speech, Miller also reviewed the Gambling Commission’s efforts to understand the nature of the illegal market, who is engaging with it and the impact of the regulator’s enforcement work. He said research shows a significant proportion of the audience for illegal gambling sites and apps consists of players who have self-excluded, those seeking better offers or the ability to gamble with crypto, and others who end up on such sites by accident.
Miller also noted that in the November Budget, the UK government announced an additional £26m in funding for the Commission over the next three years to strengthen efforts against illegal gambling. In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill, currently at committee stage in the House of Lords, will grant the UKGC new powers to suspend IP addresses and domain names linked to illegal gambling activity.
“This is positive news,” Miller said, “and I think it recognises the success we’ve started to have in this space in recent times and the government’s confidence in us to continue the fight.”
