During its investigation, AGCOM found that the company had breached the regulations in relation to the advertising of gambling products by nine individual accounts. This included content that promoted sites that carry out gaming and betting activities for real money. AGCOM noted that the company failed to block the activity of two of the nine accounts during its content review process and has included an order to block the accounts alongside the fine. It also pointed out that each of the nine accounts held the blue check mark of a verified account.
The regulator has also warned X that it must not allow any further breaches relating to these or any other accounts on its platform.
Italy’s Fight Against Illegal Gambling Ads
This is the fourth time in four years that AGCOM has levied fines in relation to breaches of this legislation. In October 2020, Google was fined €100,000 ($109,405) for featuring a paid search ad from the now-defunct website sublime-casino.com.
Italian Regulator Fines X for Illegal Gambling Ads Italian Regulator Fines X for Illegal Gambling Ads Italian Regulator Fines X for Illegal Gambling Ads to €35,246,646 ($38,556,488).