The European Commission proposed the Digital Fairness Act on 11 November 2026, a Regulation that would ban paid loot boxes for minors, require winning probabilities to be shown, and stop influencers promoting gambling wherever EU or national law bans its advertising.
The proposal, COM(2026) 1100, would repeal the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in full. As a Regulation, its rules would apply directly in all 27 member states, with no national transposition. The Commission presented it as an update of EU consumer law for the digital age in its press release.
Loot boxes under Article 15
Article 15 covers what the Digital Fairness Act calls variable reward systems: paid features that hand out random items, such as loot boxes, prize wheels and card packs. Recital 63 says these systems share speculative features with gambling. The text sets three obligations for traders:
- show clearly and prominently which items are on offer and the probability of obtaining each one;
- give every consumer, adults included, an easy tool to switch the systems off;
- stop offering rewards bought with money or paid-for virtual currency in services directed at minors, or where the trader is reasonably certain minors use them (Recital 64).
Two neighbouring articles complete the package. Article 16 bans pay-to-win and pay-to-progress mechanics for minors, and Article 14 requires prices set in virtual currencies to be transparent.
Loot boxes have sat on the border with gambling law since 2018, when Belgium’s Gaming Commission found that paid loot boxes in several video games met its definition of a game of chance. The Digital Fairness Act handles them as a consumer protection issue and does not classify them as gambling, so they stay outside national gambling licensing.
Influencers under Article 11
Recital 55 says minors are particularly vulnerable to influencer marketing and often see influencers as friends. Among the products it flags as potentially harmful, it lists “speculative instruments, betting, lotteries or other forms of gambling products.” It then states that “influencer marketing should be prohibited for products for which advertising is prohibited under Union or national law.”
Article 11 turns this into four duties, according to the Commission’s explanatory memorandum:
- commercial content must be disclosed in the same medium, at the start and for the whole post or stream (Recital 54);
- influencers may not exploit the trust of minors;
- influencer marketing is banned for products whose advertising is prohibited under EU or national law, and for unsafe products;
- brands, advertising agencies and other traders in the chain must make sure influencers comply, and contract terms cannot remove their liability (Recital 56).
The gambling ban in Article 11 is tied to national law. The Regulation does not create a single EU prohibition on gambling influencers; it prohibits influencer promotion in every market that already bans the underlying advertising, and applies common disclosure, minors and liability rules in the rest. Recital 12 keeps the carve-out for national rules “which, in conformity with Union law, relate to gambling activities”, the same wording the 2005 directive used.
Where national bans already apply
Several member states already restrict gambling influencers, each through a different instrument and a different regulator.
Romania
Romania’s National Audiovisual Council (CNA) adopted a new Audiovisual Code by Decision 573 of 25 June 2025, which bans gambling advertising featuring public figures whose online notoriety can encourage people to gamble. The rule applied from 6 October 2025, according to HotNews.
Superbet became its most visible test. The CNA ordered the removal of 20 parody clips with comedians Ionuț Rusu and George Tănase from Superbet’s YouTube channel after 129 complaints, classing the videos as gambling advertising under Article 109(7) of the code, Paginademedia.ro reported on 8 October 2026. The vote was unanimous, and members discussed widening monitoring beyond the 20 clips. The order lands in a market that has also seen tax hikes and local bans in 2026.
They are a vehicle for promoting a gambling platform.
Mircea Toma, Member, National Audiovisual Council (CNA), at the council meeting (translated from Romanian)
Netherlands
The Netherlands bans licensed operators from using role models in online gambling advertising. In a letter to licence holders published on 24 February 2026, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) said influencers, streamers and similar online personalities fall under the ban and may not be used “under any circumstances” (translated from Dutch). It told operators to end those partnerships and said the ban covers anyone whose reach makes them attractive for advertising, well known or not. The KSA has since made the influencer and streamer ban a 2026 enforcement priority.
Spain
Spain banned celebrities and influencers from gambling ads under Royal Decree 958/2020, until the Supreme Court annulled those restrictions in Ruling 527/2024 in April 2024. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs then asked the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) to consult on bringing the ban back, with comments closing on 22 June 2026.
Denmark
Denmark applies its existing Gambling Act marketing rules to streamers. The Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) said on 24 May 2025 that a streamer had accepted a DKK 10,000 fine for promoting operators without a Danish licence on Twitch. Bill L 127, tabled by the Ministry of Taxation on 25 February 2026, would have extended penalties to influencers and restricted the use of people under 25 in gambling marketing. It lapsed after its first reading on 17 March 2026.
Total advertising bans
Italy has banned almost all gambling advertising since the 2018 Dignity Decree (Law Decree 87/2018), and Belgium has prohibited most gambling advertising since July 2023. In both markets, any paid gambling post by a creator would fall straight into the Article 11 prohibition. Enforcement against creators who promote unlicensed sites is also growing: Greek authorities filed criminal charges against 18 influencers in June 2026.
What the Digital Fairness Act changes for operators
An operator running creator campaigns in five EU markets deals with five instruments: an audiovisual code in Romania, a role-model ban in the Netherlands, a pending reform in Spain, general marketing rules in Denmark and outright advertising bans in Italy and Belgium. The Digital Fairness Act keeps national choices on what may be advertised, and puts the rest under one directly applicable text.
Three changes follow from the proposal. Labelling becomes one EU standard, so a sponsored stream must be disclosed the same way in Bucharest and Copenhagen. Liability moves up the chain, because brands and agencies must make sure creators comply and cannot contract that duty away. Enforcement gains an EU layer, since the Commission would be able to fine infringements it investigates under the new Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (Article 35 and Recital 87), alongside national gambling regulators.
For loot boxes, game studios and the platforms selling paid random rewards would need probability tables, an opt-out for every user and age controls. Gambling regulators that have treated loot boxes case by case would see a common EU floor in consumer law.
Next steps
The proposal goes to the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure, and to national parliaments and the European Economic and Social Committee for opinions. Entry into force and the date of application are set in Article 38, and the 2005 directive would be repealed on that date. Both institutions can amend the scope of Articles 11 and 15 before adoption.
Source: European Commission
