Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has warned Google, Meta and TikTok to stop advertising online sweepstakes casinos in the state.
In his letter addressed to the general counsel of Google, James Uthmeier called on the companies involved to respond in writing by the deadline of October 23.
The warning comes after a range of lawsuits, all initiated in August, regarding operators such as Stake, VGW’s Chumba Casino, LuckyLand, and Global Poker, and their payment processors. Florida is demanding injunctions, refunds for consumers, and penalties.
Uthmeier claims that the platforms are promoting gambling services that have no legal authority to operate within Florida.
Florida says that this practice is illegal gambling, even if the sites claim to be free or social play. The lawsuits challenge the use of celebrity advertising or influencer campaigns.
The attorney general demands injunctions to permanently stop the defendants from doing business in Florida, along with restitution, forfeiture of profits from gambling, and penalties according to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
