The anonymous streamer has been fined nearly $1,500 for promoting unlicensed gambling sites on Twitch. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Hit the streamer with a fine
Denmark’s gambling regulator has begun cracking down on illegal gambling broadcasts. The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, announced on Wednesday that it had reported a Twitch user to the police for advertising illegal gambling sites.
The broadcaster, who has not been named by the regulator, allegedly promoted unlicensed online gambling sites earlier this year. Spillemyndigheden contacted the local police and recommended a DKK 10,000 ($1,453) fine for the streamer, which is actually the fine that was assessed once the police determined that what the streamer had done was illegal.
The first time I reported a broadcaster of illegal gambling ads
The Danish Gambling Authority said this was the first time it had reported a broadcaster for illegal gambling advertisements. In her brief press release, she didn’t say what sites were being promoted or whether the streamer was actually gambling, the latter one might assume.
Twitch bans unregulated gambling
The interesting aspect of this is that the gambling regulator sanctioned the streamers, not Twitch itself. In October 2022, Twitch imposed a ban on streams from unlicensed gambling sites, specifically targeting cryptocurrency casinos Stake, Roobet, Duelbits, and Rollbit. Seeing a streamer get suspended for violating Twitch policy wouldn’t come as a surprise, but a streamer being reported to the police by a national regulatory body is a bit different.
Protecting our community, addressing predatory behavior, and making Twitch safer.
A month ago, it added Twitch Gamdom and Blaze to its list of explicitly banned gambling sites, declaring that the overall goal is to “protect our community, tackle predatory behaviour, and make Twitch safer”.
Before the October ban, “slots” had climbed into the top 10 most watched categories on Twitch. It fell immediately when the policy was enacted. As of mid-afternoon ET on September 1, 2023, “Slots” is at number 22, with approximately 31,000 viewers. When the ban went into effect, that number was less than 4,000.
However, another category of gambling games has emerged. “Casino Jackpot” ranks 16th with 38,000 viewers. The broadcasts appear to be mostly intended for viewers in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia and may use legal gambling sites, where real currency is used and the Gamcare logo appears on many screens.
Kick filled the void
With the DKK 10,000 fine, the anonymous player might end up considering moving to Twitch’s competitor Kick, but then again, the fine has nothing to do with the platform and everything to do with their country’s gambling laws.
Kick is created by Stake, one of the leading cryptocurrency casinos
The biggest live gambling streamers – names like Trainwreck, Roshtein and Xpose – have jumped ship and switched to Kick because Kick has very few rules and streamers are happy to broadcast unregulated gambling. In fact, Kick was created by Stake, one of the leading cryptocurrency casinos, which is a potential loss leader in Stake’s core business.
The lack of guardrails as well as a more favorable pay distribution have also drawn some of Twitch’s most prolific – and most objectionable – players to Kick. People like Adin Ross, who trafficked hate speech and supplied neo-Nazi sites for clicks, have found a home on Kick where they can effectively do whatever they want.
