In 2025, PlayCity removed over 500 social media accounts for illegal gambling advertising. The regulator cooperates with Meta, TikTok, Google, Viber, and — since April 2026 — YouTube.
In 2025, PlayCity removed over 500 social media accounts for illegal gambling advertising. The regulator cooperates with Meta, TikTok, Google, Viber, and — since April 2026 — YouTube.
«On April 21, we started working with YouTube. We have already blocked a channel with over 3,000 subscribers and removed a video with illegal casino advertising on a channel with over 133,000 subscribers,» PlayCity head Gennady Novikov told Forbes in an interview .
At the same time, according to him, 10 bloggers and 4 media outlets were fined, and in 2026, Dynamo and Shakhtar were sanctioned for illegal outdoor advertising and using athletes under 21 in promotional materials.
The total amount of fines announced by the authorities currently reaches UAH 67.2 million.
«None of them have been paid in full yet,» Novikov admits. He says that companies are appealing some of the sanctions in court, and five companies have reached the point of forced collection.
The main systemic problem, he said, is that platforms are not legally obligated to respond to the regulator’s requests.
«Sometimes the platform’s reaction takes a day, sometimes several weeks. The solution can vary from restricting access in Ukraine to deleting content or blocking an account,» he explains.
In cases of system violations, PlayCity resorts to mass complaints until the platform responds.
The regulator also recently launched a public tool on its own website: now anyone can complain about illegal advertising online.
Nakozh Novikov reported that illegal casinos distribute «mirrors» manually via Telegram.
