Four well-known New Zealand influencers, together with offshore gambling operator SpinBet, have been fined by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for promoting gambling.
Millie Elder-Holmes, Calen Morris, Billy Whaanga, and Tuhira Wana were fined for advertising the offshore gambling platform Spinbet, registered in Curaçao, on their social media accounts. Calen Morris and Billy Whaanga each received four fines totalling NZ$20,000 (~US$12,000), while Tuhira Wana received three fines totalling NZ$15,000 (~US$9,000). Millie Elder-Holmes had previously been fined NZ$5,000 (~US$3,000) for advertising overseas casinos and has now received two fines totalling NZ$10,000 (~US$6,000) for advertising Spinbet.
Vicky Scott, Director of Gambling Regulation for DIA’s Regulatory services said that each violation could cost bloggers NZ$5,000–10,000 (~US$3,000–6,000), and the ministry could also require social media platforms to remove accounts that violate the law.
“These penalties apply to each instance of illegal advertising, meaning repeated breaches can result in more substantial fines and can quickly escalate“, Scott noted.
In April, the DIA also sent a warning letter to the Spinbet gambling platform itself.
“Despite the warning, Spinbet continued to target a New Zealand audience through giveaways, designed to entice New Zealanders to sign up with Spinbet for a chance to win cash prizes, gifts, or free spins”, Scott said.
In August, Spinbet was fined NZ$60,000 (~US$36,000) for 12 violations of the law.
According to Scott, foreign operators pay influencers a lot of money:
“Rumour has it that foreign casinos pay influencers tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. If someone is willing to risk a NZ$5,000 fine for a post, then the payouts must be serious.”
There are currently 40 accounts on the DIA’s blacklist, eight of which are under active investigation. Over the past two years, the number of complaints about gambling advertising by influencers has doubled to 75 cases in 2025.
“As soon as we learn about an account (as a result of a complaint or our own investigation), it is added to our watch list and regularly monitored for further violations,’ Scott emphasised.
The new law regulating advertising and online casino activities, which we wrote about earlier https://cpa.rip/en/news/nz-igaming-bill/, is currently under review by a special committee and awaiting a second reading.
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