Paf unveils unique pilot project with Meta to fight unlicensed gambling

Nordic gambling firm Paf has revealed that it has agreed terms with Meta to launch a pilot project in a major development in the fight against unlicensed gambling. The Aland Islands-headquartered operator, which delivered record financial results in 2025, is not resting on its laurels as it lands a statement deal with a Big Tech firm that has been in for heavy industry criticism due to its inaction against the black market. Jesper Eliasson, Chief Business Development Officer at Paf, presented the pilot project at SBC Summit last week. He explained that the company will share information not limited to licence documents and URLs with Meta, as it looks to give the Facebook and Instagram owner a better understanding of what both unlicensed operators and affiliates look like. Jesper Eliasson unveils Paf’s Meta agreement at SBC Summit “The work starts shortly,” Paf said. “The goal is to build a model in Switzerland that can then be scaled up to more markets.” Eliasson commented: “I don’t want to share the market with anyone who has no license, has not paid for the license or the compliance work, and who also has no responsible gaming measures in place. “I don’t know whether we will succeed, but we have taken the first steps. We are having good conversations together, and Meta does not want illegal operators on its platform. So we keep working on it and see how it goes.” Mixed views on Meta This development, and Eliasson’s comments, comes in stark contrast to an ongoing dispute between Meta and Dutch trade body VNLOK, which is suing Meta over the abundance of illegal gambling advertising on its platforms. VNLOK said that Meta displayed over 70,000 gambling adverts on its platforms in the final quarter of 2025, with 95% of those coming from unlicensed operators. Less than 5% of those were removed, according to the trade body. At the SBC Summit last week, VNLOK Chairman, Björn Fuchs, said that now is the time for Meta to “uphold their responsibility”. “You can see how much advertising there is on Meta platforms. We have tried to communicate but they have only offered automated responses,” he said. “We don’t see any improvement – in fact, it’s getting worse. Now is the time for them to uphold their responsibility.” It appears that regulators, operators and trade bodies alike across the gambling ecosystem still hold ranging views on Meta and other Big Tech businesses. The UK appears to be on the side of VNLOK, with Tim Miller, the Gambling Commission’s former Executive Director, recently lamenting Meta’s inaction on the iGaming Daily podcast. But this experimental agreement with Paf may be a sign that the tide is turning and that companies like Meta are finally preparing to begin clamping down on the illegal market. And with Paf actively preparing to enter mainland Finland’s soon-to-be-launched regulated gambling market, it’s a move that will provide hope for operators looking to enter the Nordics’ new market in the legal way. The fight against unlicensed operators is far from likely to disappear, as are some segments of the industry’s issues with big tech firms, but a partnership with one of the world’s biggest businesses – and one that is at this moment enabling the growth of the black market – cannot be understated.