TikTok restates total ban on gambling promotion across its Shop

TikTok has reaffirmed that gambling products and services cannot be promoted anywhere on TikTok Shop, according to SBC News.

The platform's message applies equally to sellers listing goods on the e-commerce service and to content creators posting videos or livestreams more broadly. Betting, lotteries, roulette, and slot and claw machines are all specifically named as prohibited categories.

Crucially, TikTok's policy makes no distinction between licensed and unlicensed gambling operators. The ban covers gambling activity in livestreams and videos regardless of whether the person posting directly engages with viewers.

"You are prohibited from selling any gambling-related products, services, or paraphernalia on the platform," TikTok told creators and sellers, according to SBC News.

The reminder lands as regulators and operators continue to press social media platforms over illegal gambling content. SBC News notes that the UK's Gambling Commission and the Netherlands' Kansspelautoriteit have both flagged the spread of unlawful gambling promotion across Meta platforms, X and TikTok as a significant concern.

Operators have voiced similar frustration. Entain raised concerns about illegal gambling activity on social media during the World Cup, while the Dutch trade body VNLOK has summoned Meta to court over the issue, per SBC News.

TikTok's audience skew makes the platform a particularly delicate environment for gambling marketing. SBC News points to Forbes figures showing 5.9 billion people used social media worldwide in 2026, with Meta's Facebook drawing more than two billion daily users and Instagram reaching three billion users overall, while X has around 550 million monthly users.

Unlike Facebook and X, where gambling adverts can be found and regulated platforms operate within company policies tied to national rules, TikTok is harder terrain for the industry given its younger user base.

Some operators maintain a presence regardless. Paddy Power launched a TikTok account last year, but SBC News reports the brand avoids conventional advertising there, instead relying on sketches, skits and stunts as content marketing rather than direct promotion.

TikTok's restatement makes its own commercial boundary explicit, but SBC News notes it leaves open a question for regulators and the regulated industry alike: whether such rules are enforced as rigorously against unlicensed operators with little interest in complying as they are against those already operating within licensed markets.