Twitter’s Gambling Ad Ban: What It Means for Casinos and Sportsbooks

X has updated its paid advertising policy with a major reform. From now on, promoting gambling content will be banned, blocking out any paid partnership promos. While it is not necessarily a massive blow to the bigger casino operators, as they have plenty of other platforms and ways to advertise their products, it could potentially hurt smaller operators. Affiliates and content creators will also be hit hard, with the latter already falling into hot water regarding what is allowed and what isn’t.

The subject is already pretty contentious in America, especially given recent warning signs that they can reach underage audiences, and it raises all kinds of concerns from the gambling awareness health groups. This is perhaps not the biggest blow to iGaming operators, but it is an important milestone in a back and forth campaign to whittle down gambling ads. X is one of the biggest platforms out there for gamers and operators, and if this communication channel is severed, who is to say whether others won’t follow suit, and break their ties with gambling firms.

Twitter’s Updated Paid Ad Policy

Under the new X (Twitter) ad policy, gambling content will no longer be allowed. Unless an operator has special permission from X, or prior authorization, the following content cannot be put into paid ads:

• Online casino promotions
• Sportsbook sign up offers
• Bonus driven acquisition campaigns
• Paid ads directing users to gambling platforms

All those new member sign up offers, or ads on running gambling promotions, will be a thing of the past. You won’t get paid ads popping up in your X feed, advertising a new game launch on a casino or a limited run sign up offer at a sportsbook. That is, among the paid ads. Because this ruling does not get rid of all gambling content on X, just the ads that operators pay for X to distribute into your feeds via sponsored posts or boosted Tweets.

Paid Ads vs Non Paid in Gambling

There is a great difference between paid and organic (non-paid) content. With paid, iGaming operators and affiliates can create optimized funnels, targeting specific age groups, regions, and track the conversions spent down to every dollar. These appear in the form of sponsored posts and boosted Tweets, which will appear in the targeted users’ feeds. Paid content is usually preferable for its speed and widespread reach, which can be achieved virtually from the moment that the ad is created. For example, a gambling operator wants to launch a new promotional offer, push bonus promo codes, or advertise a new sign up code. The result is an event-driven campaign that can reach potentially thousands or even millions of users within a short space of time.

This cannot really be done with non paid, or organic, ads. These need to be built with follower growth, SEO visibility, and community engagement. These are better for advertising the brand as a whole, as it can use long-term growth to build a stable reputation. If a gambling operator were to use organic ads to push bonus promo codes, offers that are designed to run for a short period of time, like a week, they wouldn’t reach the same number of people in the timeframe where they are relevant. You wouldn’t want to see an ad for a Super Bowl NFL bonus bet 2 months after the Super Bowl finished. It would need to pop up in your feed a good week, or a few days, before the event started.

Who is Affected by the New Policy

All operators will lose this type of urgent promotional channel for their products in X. They cannot rely on X to pump quickfire gambling ads. In the bigger picture, it will most likely hit the smaller brand operators more than the larger ones. Because larger operators have already built the follower networks, and created multi platform digital campaigns to attract new users. We know these platforms, they don’t need any introduction, and when gamers seek new iGaming or betting platforms, they tend to start with the bigger brands that are well known.

Smaller operators, on the other hand, used social media advertising as a way to gain quick visibility in the highly competitive market. They could directly compete with the larger brands in their own marketing campaigns by paying for social media ads, and quickly reach gamers. But now, with the tightening of paid ad rules and increased compliance pressure, they will have to broaden their channels for finding new potential members.

Danger of Gambling Ads on Social Media

The updated gambling ad policy on X is a major win for responsible gambling and awareness services. The intersection of social media and online gambling has long been lobbied by these groups, as it becomes increasingly difficult to control who sees, and more importantly, who is exposed to these types of ads. A study released by Common Sense Media indicated that thousands of underage boys gambled in the USA in 2025. Among the drivers that pushed teens and minors to gambling, the study exposed:

• Social media gambling ads
• Peer pressure
• Parental/family exposure
• Gamified gambling devices in games

Kids who were exposed to gambling content were more likely to spend more money betting – in this case – it was $72 on average (for the kids who actively watch gambling content) to a mere 33 cents. Many of the children stated that gambling ads had virtually popped up in their feeds “from one day to the next”. A sudden impact, and one that could seriously jeopardize children who do not truly understand the risks involved.

Another aspect to consider is the gambling influencers and content creators. They will not use paid gambling ads on X, but rather advertise gambling products to their followership. These influencers, for the most part, don’t start out promoting gambling products. Generally, iGaming operators will look for trending or emerging content creators, and they will reach out and form some kind of deal. It is a relatively cheap way of creating sponsored content, but also one that comes with great controversy. One example of which is the United Strand, the guy who said he won’t cut his hair until Manchester United win 5 games in a row. He started out making satirical fan-based content, but in one of his latest streams, the United Strand actively promoted gambling products – with no disclaimers to warn viewers.

Regulatory Clampdowns on Gambling Ads

The regulatory authorities are continuously looking to restrict advertising channels and tighten the loopholes to ensure this kind of content does not reach the wrong audience. In the Netherlands, the KSA banned share your bet features at sportsbooks. These used social media platforms to advertise betting slips. You make a parlay, and then share it with your friends on your social media channel. However, these types of posts are more difficult to regulate, as the sportsbook has no control over who sees the ad. And so they were determined to be harmful.

Different authorities have their own tolerances or stringent laws relating to gambling ads. In Spain, gambling operators are mandated to provide anti-gambling style disclaimers on their sites. The Philippines is one of the few Asian countries to allow online gambling, and is now pushing for a controversial total ban on gambling ads.

Cracking down on social media, influencers, and content creators sponsoring gambling ads is something that authorities continuously work on. Because the advertising landscape keeps changing, and operators have to stay one step ahead when looking for potential openings that gambling sites use. Another example, discovered in the UK, was the correlation between illegal live-streaming sites and black market gambling ads. Many of these sites, which are already illegal but hugely popular in the UK, give players free streams of live events, and also advertise gambling sites that are not regulated by the UKGC.

Will Other Platforms Follow X?

X is not the only platform that is reshaping its paid gambling advertising policy. Google and YouTube constantly tighten their gambling ads policies to exclude specific gambling services and try to keep a cleaner interface for all users. TikTok, a Chinese run platform (where gambling is strictly illegal), prohibits practically all forms of real money gambling ads.

The other comparable players here are the Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram, where gambling ads are still authorized – so long as the operators have gained prior approval and passed the licensing requirements. But as the laws around this medium of marketing slowly compress, and social media gambling ads become less and less effective, operators will have to broaden their marketing campaigns elsewhere. The move will not be crippling to the biggest iGaming operators out there, but they will have to adapt if they want to keep those revenue streams alive and flowing. As X strikes paid gambling ads off the agenda, it reinforces a more widespread reality. Gambling ads are becoming more restricted, and social media remains one of the most highly contentious areas for gambling operators.