Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who filed lawsuits against two top Florida sweepstakes casino operators in mid-August 2026, has recently expanded his actions against the industry.
On September 25, 2026, Uthmeier sent letters to five internet firms demanding they stop advertising online sweepstakes sites on their platforms. The exact demand was to stop ads for unregulated sweepstakes casinos in Florida.
If they continued, the Florida Attorney General’s office would consider them to be promoting illegal gambling and committing a Florida crime.
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Demands that “big tech” cease-and-desist
The letter went out to the largest search engine in the western world, Google, and four major social media groups: Reddit, TikTok, Snap (Snapchat), and Meta (Facebook).
The letter to Google stated, “It has come to my attention that your company may be advertising illegal ‘sweepstakes’ casinos on its social media platforms to residents of Florida.”
James Uthmeier’s letter added, “Promoting illegal gambling is a crime under Florida law.”
Accused of promoting illegal gambling in Florida
In his assertion, promoting illegal gambling is an independent crime in Florida. One does not need to operate an unlicensed sweepstakes casino to violate the law.
Previous attempts to work with the five companies were met with the argument that they are just neutral ad networks. Thus, posting advertisements for social casino promotions is a normal part of operating procedure.
Florida lawsuits against VGW Holdings and Stake
That same argument is at stake in the two lawsuits filed by the Florida AG’s office in a state court in the Tampa area last month. At the time, Uthmeier announced separate lawsuits against Stake and VGW Holdings.
Stake is the owner of Stake.us, one of the biggest sweepstakes casino sites. VGW Holdings owns several prominent sweepstakes sites, including the dominant Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and the now-defunct LuckyLand Slots (as of September 14).
Florida included payment processors in the lawsuits against Stake and VGW Holdings. It also demanded that major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard stop processing payments on the targeted sites. If they did not, Florida would target them for RICO Act violations.
Deadline to comply with Florida gambling regulations
The Florida AG gave Google, Meta, Reddit, Snap, and TikTok an ultimatum: respond formally in writing by October 23, 2026. These formal replies should describe “specific, concrete actions” they have taken to end such advertising on their platforms.
None of the companies have commented publicly on the Florida cease-and-desist letters. As a rule, they generally do not comment publicly on active enforcement actions or threats of litigation.
Instead, they change their terms of service to reflect new policy changes. Historically, such tech platforms tend to rely on their interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This protects them from liability for third-party ads that run on their platforms.
TikTok faces an ongoing, contentious dispute with AG Uthmeier. In a separate lawsuit filed in June 2026, the Florida Attorney General accused TikTok of constructing addictive algorithms that harm minor safety. TikTok took the rare action of responding publicly to the suit filed, stating the social media company was “engaging constructively and in good faith with the AG.”
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