Apple, Meta, Google in casino app case appeal: ‘don’t call us bookies’

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila has Big Tech firms such as Apple, Meta, and Google that allow casino apps in their app stores are arguably bookies profiting from gambling. However, the line is so fine that he invites the companies to appeal, reports Reuters.

In 2020, Apple was sued for  “promoting, enabling, and profiting” from gambling games on the App Store. The lawsuit was lodged Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut by Karen Workman, the plaintiff in the case. She claims she downloaded an app called “Jackpot Mania” in 2017, and “began purchasing coins through the app so he/she could continue to play for a chance to win free coins that would enable him/her to enjoy the game(s) for a longer period of time.”

The lawsuit is seeking class status and asks for a refund of “all money paid through the illegal gambling games described herein,” attorneys’ fees; and an award for the plaintiff for “his/her services in this case on behalf of the class.”                  

And in 2021 a class action lawsuit blamed Apple for hosting and profiting from casino-style apps through the App Store. Lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Columbia, it’s a class action “arising from Apple’s profiting from illegal gambling games developed by Zynga and offered, sold, and distributed by Apple through its App Store for consumers to download and play.”

The lawsuit says that the tech giant offers, sells, and distributes casino-style slot machines, casino-style table games, and other common gambling games that “constitutes illegal gambling pursuant the law of various states” (the suit named 25).