France’s gambling regulator has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, escalating a wave of restrictions aimed at prediction platforms operating outside local authorizations.
In a Friday press release, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) said prediction websites fall under illegal gambling rules if they are not authorized, adding that advertising or promoting such sites is a criminal offense punishable by fines of up to 100,000 euros.
Key takeaways
- France’s ANJ has ordered ISPs to block Polymarket, citing lack of authorization and illegal gambling promotion risks.
- The regulator argues Polymarket’s features resemble regulated gambling, but without “protective mechanisms” found in the legal market.
- ANJ also raised concerns about possible outcome manipulation, including allegations involving weather-related contracts.
- Polymarket has already been geoblocked in multiple regions, according to its own documentation.
- Regulatory scrutiny is not limited to Europe: similar legal disputes have played out in the US between state actors and federal authorities.
France moves to block Polymarket
The ANJ’s order targets access to Polymarket through internet service providers, framing the platform as an unauthorized gambling offering. According to the regulator, Polymarket’s operations are not authorized in France, and the advertising of gambling sites without permission constitutes a criminal offense.
The decision comes as prediction markets continue to gain mainstream attention. Polymarket, in particular, has grown rapidly over the last two years, with trading volume reaching billions of dollars, even as regulators worldwide question whether its event contracts are gambling products, unlicensed offerings, or something closer to financial instruments.
France’s action also reinforces a broader pattern of country-by-country enforcement. Polymarket access has been blocked in places including Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, Brazil, and Indonesia, while at press time Polymarket said it was geoblocked in 36 regions, based on its published API documentation.
ANJ cites “addictive” mechanics and missing safeguards
Beyond the authorization question, the ANJ’s reasoning focuses on how prediction products are experienced by users. The regulator said Polymarket offers “addictive features” that are comparable to those of legally regulated gambling, but it claims those features are “amplified by the absence of the protective mechanisms found in the legal gambling market.”
This distinction matters for investors and users because it goes to how regulators classify the product. When a platform resembles regulated gambling mechanics but lacks corresponding protections—such as consumer safeguards and oversight—authorities are more likely to pursue takedowns, advertising restrictions, and access blocking, even if the platform markets itself as a different kind of market.
Outcome manipulation concerns and investigation status
The ANJ also pointed to the risk of outcome manipulation in certain event contracts. It cited alleged rigging, including a specific example: bets tied to weather outcomes where the regulator said weather sensors may have been hacked.
“Some of the bets offered on this platform appeared to be rigged: for example, bets on the weather revealed that weather sensors may have been hacked.”
In addition, the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in May 2026 and, according to the article’s account of the regulator’s findings, identified a lack of identity verification safeguards such as Know Your Customer checks.
For participants, this kind of enforcement pressure highlights a key operational fault line: regulators are not only focused on contract structure, but also on platform controls—especially around participant verification and the reliability of the information used to settle outcomes.
France builds on earlier warnings, while US regulators escalate
This is not France’s first move. Earlier coverage noted that the ANJ shared plans in November 2024 to block Polymarket after the platform allegedly failed to comply with national gambling laws, and the Friday decision follows through with the required ISP-level blocking.
The French action arrives amid an ongoing legal fight over prediction markets in the United States. On June 17, Kentucky sued five prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, alleging they were operating unlicensed sports betting platforms—according to the earlier reporting cited in the article. Additional states have followed suit. Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued New Mexico, arguing that state-level interference encroached on the federal regulator’s exclusive authority over federally regulated event contracts, as reflected in the referenced CFTC dispute.
Taken together, the US and France developments underscore a persistent regulatory tension: prediction markets sit at the intersection of gambling law, securities and commodities frameworks, and consumer protection rules. Even when platforms frame themselves as market infrastructure for forecasting rather than wagering, regulators appear willing to treat them as gambling-like products when participation mechanics and consumer risk resemble traditional betting.
As France implements the ISP blocking order, the next question for readers and market participants is how Polymarket and other affected platforms will adjust compliance, identity verification, and settlement-risk controls—and whether the broader trend shifts from geoblocking to more formal legal resolutions in major jurisdictions.
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