Dutch regulator KSA launches two campaigns to prompt early talks on gambling harm with 16-25-year-olds

The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has rolled out two public-awareness campaigns intended to get families talking about gambling sooner and to lower the barrier for young people who want help. The regulator announced the initiatives on Monday.

The first, called OpenOverGokken, begins in early November and is addressed to parents of teenagers and young adults between roughly 16 and 25. It urges caregivers to bring up gambling before any problems appear, presenting it as a topic comparable to sex and online safety. The campaign builds on the OpenOverGokken.nl portal, launched in 2025, which provides independent information and tools for starting such conversations.

The second initiative runs under the Gokstop banner and speaks to young adults who already have gambling problems or may be at greater risk. Its message is that quitting need not wait for a crisis and can be decided at any moment. It also encourages relatives and friends to notice possible warning signs and to support a first step toward the national self-exclusion and support programme.

According to the report, the two campaigns depart from earlier Gokstop communication, which concentrated on life after stopping. The new approach stresses early recognition and accessible help-seeking, using everyday situations to make a first step feel manageable. The KSA names social media, online video, advertising and in-game content as common ways young people come across gambling.

In that context, CDA local politician Meryam Sümer has called for national action to raise the minimum legal age for online gambling from 18 to 24. The KSA is expected to publish follow-up data or evaluation findings, and possible indicators of effectiveness include changes in public awareness, use of the OpenOverGokken.nl portal and Gokstop registrations.

The launch follows the KSA's annual and semi-annual reports published about a week earlier. Those found that people aged 18-23 held around 22% of legal gambling accounts while making up about 9.2% of the adult population. In the first half of 2026, the average monthly loss on accounts used by 18-23-year-olds was €34. An earlier KSA survey also showed a sharp rise in registrations at or soon after a user's 18th birthday: in 2024-25, 11% of accounts opened by 18-year-olds were registered on the birthday itself and 38% within a month.