Claudia van Bruggen, the Dutch State Secretary for Legal Protection and Detention within the Ministry of Justice and Security, has made several statements regarding the Remote Gambling Act in the Netherlands.
The questions were submitted by ChristenUnie and the Socialist Party (SP), both of which have drafted a bill to tighten online gambling rules.
The proposed bill includes a ban on advertising and higher fines that can reach 100% of a company’s turnover, and has received criticism from the Dutch trade association, VNLOK.
In response to the questions, van Bruggen admitted that: “The Gambling Act, as amended in 2021 by the Remote Gambling Act (hereinafter: KOA Act), offers insufficient protection to vulnerable players”, but that there is action being taken to address this within the government.
She continued: “Researchers conclude that the introduction of the KOA Act has not (yet) contributed to a responsible and controllable gambling offering to date.
“In addition, an analysis by TNO shows that online gambling is a system with a strong tendency towards escalation, driven by positive feedback loops in both demand and supply.
“According to TNO, the protective measures against excessive gambling behaviour and for the prevention of addiction have proven unable to adequately curb these self-reinforcing feedback loops.”
She went on to explain that studies have been conducted into online casino design choices, and that experts have classified which positive and negative behavioural influences operators deploy to encourage certain player behaviour.
In recent years, the default settings of online casinos have been amended to counteract this, such as removing high deposit limits and introducing mandatory pop-ups during gameplay.
Van Bruggen explained: “The Koa Act was based on the player's own responsibility, and protection was limited to consumers and the prevention of gambling addiction.
“The approach chosen at the time appears to be problematic, as shown by the evaluation of the Koa Act, and better protection is needed.”
Finally, van Bruggen concluded that she is working on improved remote gambling measures, with the recommendations expected to be published later this year.
Since the KOA was introduced, online casinos have received an influx of new, young players, although this could be attributed to a global shift towards this demographic
