Ukraine’s gambling regulator PlayCity has widened its efforts against illegal gambling advertising by establishing direct cooperation with streaming platform Kick and several major digital companies, aiming to speed up the removal of unlicensed gambling promotions online.
The initiative comes as gambling operators, affiliates and content creators increasingly use social media and livestreaming platforms to reach audiences. Through the new framework, PlayCity can communicate directly with teams at Kick, TikTok, YouTube, Meta platforms, Twitch, Viber and Google to report suspected violations, verify content and request restrictions on accounts or posts that break Ukraine’s gambling advertising rules.
Kick, launched in 2022 as a competitor to Twitch, has become one of the latest platforms to join the regulator’s enforcement network. PlayCity said the closer cooperation is designed to reduce response times when illegal gambling content is identified.
According to the regulator, the strategy is already producing results. During the past month, authorities helped remove 37 social media accounts across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Twitch and Kick. The blocked accounts had a combined audience of more than 895,000 followers. PlayCity also reported that two Kick channels were taken down during the last week following complaints submitted through the regulator’s reporting system.
The campaign is supported by an online complaint tool introduced earlier this year, allowing the public to report suspected illegal gambling advertising. Since the launch of the reporting system, PlayCity has received 425 complaints, including 19 submitted during June alone.
PlayCity added that, since the start of its enforcement drive, access has been restricted to 785 social media and streaming profiles that were found to be promoting gambling content in violation of Ukrainian regulations. Each report is reviewed by regulators before any action is taken against the account or content in question.