Greece charges 18 influencers with promoting unlicensed betting platforms 

Greece’s gambling regulator has filed criminal charges against 18 influencers and streamers for promoting unlicensed betting platforms.

The move was announced by Antonis Bartholomew, head of the Greek Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP), during the fourth Greek Online Gaming day.

He said the first five influencers targeted had 623,000, 456,000, 435,000, 422,000 and 337,000 followers respectively, bringing their combined reach to over 3 million followers. 

Mr Bartholemew raised concerns that several minors were exposed to these promotions and flagged the growing role of influencers and streamers in promoting unlicensed gambling services.

Official figures estimate the unlicensed Greek gambling market generates an estimated €2bn annually, not too far away from the €3.07 generated by the legal market.

The charges come as Greece seeks to tighten gambling regulations, with a new bill broadening the blacklist of unlicensed providers to cover mobile apps in addition to websites, domains, and IP addresses.