{"id":11218,"date":"2026-07-20T05:20:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11218"},"modified":"2026-07-20T05:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:20:52","slug":"france-orders-polymarket-blocked-over-illegal-gambling-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11218","title":{"rendered":"France orders Polymarket blocked over illegal gambling promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article\">\n<p>France&#8217;s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) has ordered the country&#8217;s internet service providers <a href=\"https:\/\/anj.fr\/promotion-dune-offre-de-jeux-dargent-illegale-blocage-du-site-polymarket\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\" title=\"(opens in a new window)\">to block access to Polymarket<\/a>, the crypto-based prediction market.<\/p>\n<p>This decision came after determining the platform was illegally promoting gambling and games of chance to French users. The blocking order, issued July 16 by the ANJ&#8217;s president, applies to all Polymarket sites operated by ADVENTURE ONE QSS INC.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex mx-auto mt-8 w-full max-w-3xl font-sans text-lg leading-normal md:text-xl md:leading-7\">\n        <span class=\"font-bold text-primary-400\">SEE ALSO:<\/span><br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/tech\/spotify-deletes-malcolm-todd-streams-manipulation-prediction-markets\" class=\"flex items-center text-secondary-300\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"ml-1\">Spotify deletes 500K streams of popular song for suspected Kalshi, Polymarket user manipulation<\/span><br \/>\n            <svg class=\"ml-1 w-4 h-4 font-normal fill-current\"><use href=\"http:\/\/mashable.com\/images\/icons\/spritemap.svg#sprite-arrow-right-thin\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<p>The regulator says it has tracked Polymarket&#8217;s activity in France since November 2024. An earlier formal notice prompted the company to geoblock financial transactions from French users, but the ANJ said that the restriction was being circumvented. The agency noted that prediction markets are not authorized under French law and had already warned the public in February that using such platforms carries risks, including addiction and market manipulation.<\/p>\n<section x-data=\"window.newsletter({ isDeal: false })\" x-init=\"init()\" aria-label=\"Newsletter Sign-Up\" class=\"relative invisible my-12 mx-auto w-full max-w-3xl md:my-16 ziff-component accent-cut-for-gradient-bg accent-cut-border-for-gradient-bg bg-gradient-fuchsia-secondary p-[2px]\">\n<p>\n            <span class=\"text-gradient-fuchsia-secondary\">Mashable Trend Report<\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>The ANJ also pointed to an active investigation, opened in May by the Paris prosecutor&#8217;s cybercrime unit, into allegations that weather-related bets on the platform were manipulated through compromised sensors. The regulator said Polymarket lacks a &#8220;Know Your Customer&#8221; identification system for its French and European users.<\/p>\n<p>France joins a growing list of European countries \u2014 including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland \u2014 that have restricted or blocked prediction markets. The ANJ said it blocked 1,290 URLs in 2025 under its administrative powers.<\/p>\n<p>The action follows other recent controversies for Polymarket, including a <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> investigation, <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/life\/polymarket-influencer-scam-ads\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\">reported by Mashable<\/a>, that found the company paid influencers to promote fabricated betting wins on <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/category\/tiktok\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\">TikTok<\/a>, and separate reporting on the platform&#8217;s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/tech\/polymarket-blocks-vpn-users-as-it-faces-potential-legal-trouble\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\">block VPN access<\/a> amid legal pressure in the U.S.<\/p>\n<section class=\"mx-auto max-w-7xl\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap mt-8 w-full font-sans subtitle-2 editor-content\">\n<p>\n        <span class=\"mr-1.5 font-sans font-bold\">Topics<\/span><br \/>\n                    <a class=\"underline-link hover:no-underline text-secondary-300 mr-1.5\" href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/category\/social-good\" aria-label=\"Navigate to the Social Good tag\" data-ga-click=\"\" data-ga-label=\"$text\">Social Good<\/a><br \/>\n                    <a class=\"underline-link hover:no-underline text-secondary-300 \" href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/category\/government\" aria-label=\"Navigate to the Government tag\" data-ga-click=\"\" data-ga-label=\"$text\">Government<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France&#8217;s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) has ordered the country&#8217;s internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market. This decision came after determining the platform was illegally promoting gambling and games of chance to French users. The blocking order, issued July 16 by the ANJ&#8217;s president, applies to all Polymarket sites operated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/helios-i.mashable.com\/imagery\/articles\/02U26RiAXHgV91EKA0f80d3\/hero-image.fill.size_1200x675.v1784448125.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}