Investigation Finds Norway Web Blocking May Be Less Than Useless

A dispute has broken out in Norway over the effectiveness of DNS blocking, exposing once again the growing divisions over the future of the country’s gambling monopoly.

An investigation by Norwegian national broadcaster NRK has exposed the apparent futility of the government’s attempts to shut out offshore operators.

Journalists measured internet traffic from Norway to 48 casinos that had access blocked in March 2025.

Rather than having disappeared from the market, NRK found that the number of visitors to these sites had actually increased by 30 percent since the blocking order took effect.

Across the 115 websites reviewed by the publication, traffic had decreased to the websites targeted in two later rounds of blocking, in June 2025 and February 2026.

However, despite access having apparently been blocked by the authorities, these 67 sites still registered more than 7.1m visits in the time since they became the subject of DNS enforcement.

Regulator disagrees

When they were introduced, DNS blocking powers were celebrated by the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority (Lottstift) as a powerful tool to help protect one of the few remaining national gambling monopolies in Europe.

The regulator has so far blocked 238 websites run by a total of 72 different companies.

Of those sites, 71 have changed their offering so that it cannot be accessed by Norwegian customers, according to officials.

Lottstift said that the technology used by NRK to establish website traffic, provided by US company Semrush, only produces “estimates” and pointed to survey data suggesting that the number of offshore gamblers fell in 2025.

However it does not dispute claims by NRK that the regulator itself uses the same tools and methodology in its own enforcement cases.

The head of the regulator, Tore Bell, defended the continued use of blocking measures in comments to the broadcaster.

"Another measurement shows a more flat development, so we see no growth. We believe there would have been more players from foreign companies if it weren't for DNS blocking, and for banks to stop bets and winnings," he said.

Minister concerned

The allegations have raised serious concern that DNS blocking may not be working as intended to insulate monopoly operator Norsk Tipping from foreign competition.

Responding to a parliamentary question on November 5, Norway’s Minister of Culture & Equality, Lubna Boby Jaffery, said that a review of website blocking was in order.

“I believe that the figures contribute to the need to take a closer look at the regulations related to DNS blocking,” she said.

“It was assumed that DNS blocking would still have a certain effect, both by limiting the public's access to foreign gaming offers and as an information measure,” Jaffery added.

The minister said she would order Lottstift to conduct an assessment of how successful its blocking efforts have actually been.

Policy problems

Norway’s enforcement efforts and subsequent legal cases have been effective at shutting out most European-based operators, who used to populate a thriving grey market that Norsk Tipping and others have long insisted was illegal.

Since effectively disrupting that space, it's clear that operators based out of offshore hubs like Curacao have since moved in to fill that space.

Critics of the monopoly model, who wish for Norway to follow in the footsteps of its Nordic brethren in dispatching with the existing monopoly, have seized on NRK’s revelation as evidence that the current system is not functioning properly.

“The measure completely misses the intention, which is to protect vulnerable groups," said Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, the secretary general of the industry trade group NBO.

“This is a clear example that we have a gaming policy in Norway that doesn't work," he told NRK.

Future at stake

The future Norsk Tipping is uncertain, after years of reliable support from Norway’s political establishment, elections in 2025 tipped the balance of power.

While its allies in the Labour Party secured the most seats in parliament, they now govern with a minority.

Considered together, the second and third largest Progress and Conservative Parties have more seats than Labour and both pledged to abolish the monopoly during their election campaigns.

Representatives from both parties told NRK that the DNS blocking policy appeared to be a waste of government resources.

The Liberal Party has also long opposed online blocking measures, on the grounds that they limit personal freedoms.

"The figures from NRK show what we warned against, namely that DNS blocking is an unsuccessful measure to get fewer people to use casinos. Here we pay a price in principle without getting the effect," deputy director Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik said.