PARIS, July 17 (Reuters) – France’s gambling regulator said on Friday it had instructed internet service providers to block access to the Polymarket betting website, citing concerns that it could expose users to significant gambling losses and that some wagers offered on the platform could be manipulated.
“On July 16, 2026, the president of France’s National Gambling Authority ordered French internet service providers to block access to the Polymarket website. The site, which attracts a particularly large audience, is promoting an illegal gambling and betting offering,” the regulator said on its website on Friday.
Officials at Polymarket could not be immediately reached for a comment, regarding the French decision.
Regulators worldwide have increasingly sought to tighten oversight of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
In May, the Spanish government temporarily banned Polymarket and Kalshi from operating in the country, while in June the top U.S. derivatives regulator released new draft regulations for the burgeoning prediction markets industry.
Prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow traders to buy and sell binary “yes” or “no” contracts on the outcome of virtually any event from foreign interventions to football games and elections. That has sparked scrutiny from lawmakers who havecalled for tougher regulation and for some bets to be banned on the basis they serve no economic purpose and may be harmful to the public interest.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Louise Heavens)
