Ukraine’s recently incepted regulator has unveiled a new milestone as it has recorded the first case of a Twitch account being blocked for illegal gambling advertising and promotion.
The channel was running numerous streams that were in violation of gambling advertisement laws, with the infringement subsequently being reported via the PlayCity’s new online complaint tool. The regulator then reported the channel to Twitch, which removed it from its platform within a week.
Commenting on this development, PlayCity Head Gennadiy Novikow stated: “For me, this is an important example of how regulation should work in the digital environment: quickly, transparently, and in cooperation with platforms. We are not just documenting violations — we are seeing the process through to actual results.
“PlayCity has already established effective cooperation with Meta, Twitch, YouTube, Google, and Viber to respond more quickly to illegal gambling advertising online. Thank you to everyone who reports such cases. If you see gambling advertisements that violate the rules, please submit a report through the online tool on the PlayCity website.”
This latest update comes following an additional significant development from the regulator this morning, which saw the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee back a move to shift gambling regulation from the Ministry of Digital Transformation – where it is currently overseen – to the Ministry of Finance.
Elsewhere this week, PlayCity also unveiled a new, long-term plan of action to help tackle gambling-related harms in the nation by 2035, with Novikow having also previously outlined this month that half of the nation’s entire gambling market currently resides in the unregulated landscape.
PlayCity was officially incepted to regulate the Ukrainian gambling market in March 2025, just over one year ago
