X bans gambling from paid partnerships, cutting off affiliates and influencers

• X updated its Paid Partnerships Policy on 18 February 2026, formally barring gambling operators, affiliates, and influencers from all paid promotional arrangements on the platform.
• The ban covers lotteries, social casinos, sports betting, and related wagering services, with violations risking content removal or account suspension.
• Gambling operators can still run traditional paid advertising on X, but only through preauthorised campaigns subject to separate advertising policies.

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has barred gambling companies from using paid partnerships to promote their products and services, in a policy update that took effect on 18 February 2026.

The move directly affects iGaming affiliates, influencers, and brand ambassadors who have relied on the platform to generate traffic and revenue through commission-based arrangements.

The scope of the ban

X defines paid partnerships as any post created by a user in exchange for compensation or another incentive from a third party, including direct payments, affiliate commissions, revenue-sharing agreements, referral and discount codes, or gifts.

Under the revised rules, gambling products and services, including lotteries, social casinos, sports betting, and other gambling-related content, now sit in a prohibited category alongside other sensitive verticals such as adult products, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, and certain financial and health-related services.

The change effectively means that influencers or other people or entities cannot be paid or otherwise incentivised to promote gambling on the platform through organic, non-advertising posts. Operators who breach the policy face consequences ranging from mandatory post removal to account suspension, depending on the severity and frequency of violations.

X’s policies for paid partnerships differ from its advertising policies, meaning that gambling content prohibited under paid partnerships may still be permissible through X Ads. However, all gambling advertising run directly through the platform requires preauthorisation before campaigns can launch.

Impact on iGaming affiliates

The policy update poses a direct challenge to a performance marketing channel that has long been central to iGaming customer acquisition. Affiliates who publish betting tips, odds content, or sportsbook links in return for commissions will need to reassess whether their activity falls within X’s newly expanded definition of a paid partnership.

Accounts that primarily monetise gambling content through commission structures or ambassador arrangements are particularly exposed to enforcement action.

Unlike traditional display advertising, influencer promotion blends entertainment with endorsement. It humanises the product and drives urgency. Removing compensated promotion changes the maths.

Industry analysts note that operators are likely to redirect marketing spend toward owned media, licensed affiliate networks with tighter compliance frameworks, and programmatic advertising with robust geo and age controls.

A broader platform shift

X’s move is part of a wider trend across major digital platforms.

In Europe, regulators in markets including the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and Italy have imposed strict restrictions on influencer promotions of gambling, with some jurisdictions effectively prohibiting such campaigns. In the UK, influencers can promote gambling products, but campaigns must comply with CAP advertising rules on promotion and age-gating of audiences.

In Brazil, lawmakers approved a ban on influencer, celebrity, and athlete promotions for betting operators later in 2025, after the Brazil Bets regime came into force on 1 January 2025.

Meanwhile, X stated that exemptions to its Paid Partnerships Policy may be considered on a case-by-case basis via internal sales teams, though it did not clarify whether gambling operators would qualify for such review.

The timing of the update draws attention given that X simultaneously maintains a commercial partnership with Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform. X entered into a deal with Polymarket in June 2025, making the prediction market the social platform’s official prediction market partner.

Where prediction markets fall under the new paid partnership policy remains unsettled, as X has not explicitly stated whether licensed or regulated prediction markets will be treated as gambling under the partnership rules.

For iGaming operators and their marketing partners, the practical path forward narrows considerably. The days of celebrity-driven and influencer-led organic gambling promotion on X appear to be over.