Belgium has introduced a new legal framework to more effectively block illegal gambling websites by targeting not just the sites themselves, but the entire infrastructure supporting them.
FPS Economy has developed a system that will depend on a large number of intermediary parties—such as internet service providers (ISPs), technology vendors, and domain providers—to make it much more difficult for illegal operators to continue functioning within Belgium.
Belgium has an existing blacklist of illegal gambling sites, but the new system is set up to extend enforcement across six additional layers of enforcement. Internet service providers will now be required to block access to illegal gambling sites. Content delivery networks such as Cloudflare will be required to stop providing service to illegal gambling sites. Search engines like Google will be required to remove links to illegal gambling sites. Platforms like Meta will be required to stop advertising on illegal gambling sites.
Domain registrars will be required to suspend and/or revoke domains for illegal gambling sites. Other DNS providers will also be targeted for enforcement purposes in order to prevent users from circumventing the restrictions.
The system imposes significant penalties on intermediaries who fail to comply. Intermediaries will be subject to fines of up to €500,000 per instance of non-compliance with the required enforcement measures.
According to the official announcement, intermediaries who do not comply with the measures of the framework will be subject to a one-time penalty of €500,000 for each instance of non-compliance.
According to Paul Laurant of the Belgian Anti Online Piracy & Illegal Gambling Office, the aggressive start to enforcement of this framework has already resulted in the blocking of 49 websites.
