Finland's THL and KKV call for cross-operator limits and social media ad ban

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) warned on 6 October 2026 that gambling harms will increase when online casinos and betting open to competition in 2027 unless regulation is tightened first. In a joint statement, the agencies said the new system's harm-prevention measures "do not correspond to the risks of the changing market", as dozens of gambling companies enter and compete for the same customers. Quotations are Atlas's translations from Finnish.

The statement sets out proposals, not requirements. Their main target is how the licensing system handles limits. Under the new system, players' deposit and loss limits are set per company. The agencies say one person can open accounts with several operators and play large sums with each "without the possibility of monitoring and controlling their total gambling expenditure". They also expect gambling marketing to increase significantly. In their view, the requirement that marketing be moderate is not, on its own, enough to prevent the harms it causes.

What the agencies propose

THL and KKV proposed, among other measures:

- deposit and loss limits covering all regulated gambling provision;
- lower spending limits for people under 24;
- raising the gambling age limit to 20;
- website and payment blocking for operators outside the licensing system;
- restrictions on bonus money and other incentives to gamble;
- a ban on gambling marketing on social media;
- adequate resources for supervision, research and harm prevention.

KKV Director General Kirsi Leivo said the design of the licensing system had emphasised "the attractiveness of the licensing system to gambling companies", while "insufficient attention has been paid to preventing gambling-related harms". She added: "Excessively permissive regulation increases gambling-related harms, and reducing them afterwards is difficult."

In Atlas's view, the first two proposals would affect operators most. Limits that apply across all regulated provision, and limits that vary by age, would require each operator's limit controls to account for a player's activity beyond its own platform.

Young adults at the centre

The agencies said gambling problems and related debt are already more common among young adults than among other age groups. "Protecting young people must be raised as a central objective of gambling policy," said THL Director General Mika Salminen. The agencies linked this to marketing. Promotion is moving increasingly to social media and other digital channels, which raises particular concern about young people's exposure to operators' inducements. They listed the harms at their most serious as mental health problems, debt, payment difficulties, evictions, family problems and suicides. They added that these harms increase demand for public services and public spending.