France — Polymarket / Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ): On 22 July 2026, Polymarket announced that it intends to challenge France’s ISP-level blocking order before the French courts. The platform described the ANJ measure as unilateral and indicated that it would contest the regulator’s legal classification of its prediction markets.
Measure under challenge
On 16 July 2026, the ANJ ordered French internet service providers to block access to Polymarket. The regulator considers the platform to be promoting an unauthorised gambling service in France, despite earlier transaction geoblocking. The order was publicly announced on 17 July 2026.
Legal issue
The prospective litigation is likely to test whether Polymarket’s event contracts and public display of real-time odds constitute illegal gambling and unlawful promotion under French gambling law. It may also address the proportionality of an ISP-level block where the platform had previously restricted direct transactions from France.
FinTelegram assessment
This is the first significant judicial counterattack against the emerging European blocking campaign. A French court may now have to examine the substance of prediction markets rather than merely accepting their classification by the gambling regulator.
The case could become an important European precedent on:
- whether tokenised event contracts constitute gambling;
- whether displaying odds amounts to promoting illegal gambling;
- the adequacy of geoblocking and VPN controls;
- and the proportionality of nationwide ISP blocking.
Radar status: RED — Regulatory Litigation Watch
The ANJ block remains in effect unless suspended or overturned by a court.
