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A German court has affirmed the right of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) to ban streaming of online slots games from foreign venues, the regulator has said.
A well-known streamer on the Kick streaming platform challenged a prohibition order from the GGL, but the Higher Administrative Court in Saxony-Anhalt sided with the regulator in a July 11 ruling, the GGL said.
The court said that streaming in German can be assumed to be aimed at the primary German-speaking areas and therefore can be addressed by German regulatory authority.
GGL board member Ronald Benter hailed the court’s ruling as a warning to streamers of unlicensed content and promised that the regulator would take “even stronger action” against online gambling streamers based abroad.
In its ruling, the court cited data from the UK’s Gambling Commission, which said a 2022 survey suggested that 36 percent of 17 and 18 year-olds and 47 percent of 11 to 16 year-olds who participated in gambling were influenced by watching streaming of gambling.
Even licensed virtual slots providers in Germany are currently forbidden from streaming live gambling games, but this ruling confirmed the right of the regulator to bar streams from unlicensed operators.
The administrative court also said that regulations against advertising of illegal gambling were not in conflict with European law, according to the authority.
In February, 2023 a Berlin court issued a nearly €500,000 penalty to a YouTuber who broadcast himself gambling on numerous unlicensed websites.
The role of influencers and streaming is becoming an increasingly testing issue for regulators worldwide, with controversies brewing as far afield as France and Latin America.
