The Dutch gaming regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), is concerned about the number of young people using Telegram-based betting tipster platform Analyse Master.

Analyse Master operated a channel on the encrypted social media messaging platform Telegram, which was used to distribute betting tips and provide references to various Dutch licensed betting operators.

Significantly for the wider Dutch regulated industry, no violations by licensed betting operators were found. Specifically, the KSA did speak to two unnamed operators which had been linked to via the Telegram channel.

One of these operators had a partnership with Analyse Master but decided to end it prior to the KSA investigation. The other firm had previously advertised on Telegram via purchased space but had never worked with the tipster – though it too voluntarily decided to stop advertising on the messaging platform altogether.

In both cases, the firms decided to drop their respective Telegram campaigns due to concerns about the targeting of young adults and the use of ‘role models’ in advertising, two things that the Dutch regulator has been clamping down on heavily over recent years.

Trouble on Telegram

The KSA’s investigation hammers home two important points – firstly, the significance of the role model ban in the modern regulated Dutch gaming space, and secondly, the complexities of using Telegram as a form of marketing and advertising for the betting industry.

The inclusion of people deemed ‘role models’ has been banned in Dutch betting marketing since a law came into force in June 2022. People classed as role models include athletes and celebrities, as well as social media influencers.

The KSA states that while no licence breaches occurred at betting firms, the use of role models and targeting of young demographics by Analyse Matter is an area of concern.

However, as the firm is not a licensed betting operator, the KSA is at a loss as to what it can do. The regulator is awaiting potential changes in legislation proposed by Secretary of State for Legal Protection, Teun Struycken, which will give it more powers to address betting advertising by non-operator companies.

“The current advertising bans apply specifically to gambling providers, and not to third parties such as Analyse Master,” said Michel Groothuizen, KSA Chairman of the Board.

“The fact that there are channels on social media that promote sports betting among young adults is a very undesirable and worrying development, because young adults are vulnerable and susceptible to gambling addiction.

“I am pleased that State Secretary Struycken also announced in his recent vision on gambling that he wants to adjust the advertising rules, so that we as a supervisory authority can also take active action against these types of parties.”

This is not the first time Telegram has found itself embroiled in a regulatory spat around gambling.

The platform faced a ban in Türkiye last year with authorities citing, among other things, illegal gambling occurring on it. Additionally, in an unrelated development Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Valeryevich Durov, was later arrested by French authorities as part of an EU investigation into criminal activity on the site.

Though the companies have not been cited in any major law enforcement or regulatory investigations into Telegram, the site is used by some notable blockchain/crypto-based betting firms like Lucky Block and TG.Casino.

Regulatory concerns about unlicensed activity on Telegram, the extent of messaging and marketing by various companies on the site, and the increasingly vocal discussions around blockchain and cryptocurrency which have emerged in 2025 likely mean that the social media platform will continue to find itself in industry headlines this year.