Google and Meta executives summoned in India over gambling case

India’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency has summoned executives from Google and Meta to its headquarters as part of an investigation into possible money laundering through online betting apps. About this informs Reuters.
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating whether these companies may have facilitated the spread of gambling apps through advertisements on their platforms. The meeting is scheduled for July 21 at the agency’s main office in New Delhi.
Indian authorities suspect that Google and Meta may have violated the government’s ban on gambling advertising by promoting prohibited betting-related content. The investigation will also cover the financial streams that the companies could have received from cooperation with similar services and their possible involvement in advertising other platforms with similar functionality.
India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting warned as early as 2022 that gambling poses a “significant financial and socio-economic risk to consumers, especially youth and children”, and banned its advertising on television and digital media.
At the same time, the Indian government is also preparing to launch an incentive program worth 25 billion rupees (about 290 million US dollars) to support private companies involved in the production of certain types of magnets.
India plans to support three to four major companies to manufacture magnets using local raw materials over a seven-year period. At the same time, a two-year preparation stage is foreseen, after which incentives will be provided for five years from the start of production. Amid the rapid development of the electric vehicle sector, the government is considering investing up to Rs 6 billion for every thousand tonnes of production capacity under this initiative.