A TikTok ad for operator Midnite has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority for appealing to people under the age of 25.

This ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on gambling ads. The ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules.

A paid-for TikTok ad for Midnite, seen on 3 July 2026, featured a video of a man using a gambling app on his phone. He said, “Another massive World Cup upset. Bet £10 on the big match and get £30 in the free bets. Level up your World Cup with Midnite, get on it.” 

The ASA challenged whether the ad breached the code on gambling advertising because it featured someone who seemed to be, or who was, under 25 years of age. 

Dribble Media Ltd t/a Midnite said the ad had not been sanctioned by them and that the branding used was not theirs despite the word ‘Midnite’ being used.

They said they had investigated the matter and found that the ad had been created by an affiliate, Limay Media, who they had not contracted to publish any paid social media posts.

Midnite reaffirmed that they had not sanctioned the ad and had since ended their contract with Limay Media. They also said they would remind their affiliates of the need to comply with contractual requirements and the CAP Code. 

Limay Media Ltd said the ad had been created using AI and that the individual shown was an AI-generated fictional character, rather than a real person. They said no source images or footage of a real individual had been used and no subsequent alterations had been made to the character. They said the prompt used to generate the ad did not specify the age of the character. Limay Media said the character had been intended to depict an adult. 

The ASA stated that no-one who was, or seemed to be, under 25 years old may be featured gambling or playing a significant role in gambling ads. An individual was shown throughout the ad on his phone. He engaged with a gambling app and appeared to be excited by the promotional offer. The ASA considered the individual was using the app to gamble and was the central focus of the ad. 

For those reasons, we concluded that the ad featured someone who seemed to be under 25 years of age gambling and playing a significant role and therefore breached ASA rules on gambling.

The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. The ASA told Dribble Media Ltd t/a Midnite and Limay Media Ltd to ensure that their gambling ads did not feature anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 25 years of age gambling or playing a significant role in the ad.