The Japanese government enacted a new law to ban advertisements for online casinos as the country continues to tackle offshore gambling issues.
In Japan, most forms of gambling are illegal but there are a few exceptions including betting on horse racing and certain motorsports – with various regulated circuits and ticket booths inside many cities for bettors to wager.
Online gambling is illegal, but that hasn’t stopped residents from using offshore casinos to bet. Police said around $8.3 billion is believed to have been spent annually by gamblers in Japan.
Police Survey Estimates More Than 3 Million Japanese Residents Have Gambled Online
Online casino sites are easily accessible for Japanese residents via the internet but doing so violates domestic anti-gambling laws.
Roughly 3.37 million people in Japan have illegally gambled online through offshore operators based in countries like Malta and Panama which aren’t subject to Japanese jurisdiction.
In a huge step to combat the issue, the country’s National Police Agency (NPA) will introduce new laws to target promotional activity for offshore sites like banner ads and social media posts.
Internet service providers and social media platforms will be able to remove such content more efficiently and the NPA has requested that foreign governments restrict access to offshores from Japan.
NPA Plans To Distribute Leaflets, Run Promotional Campaigns To Warn Of Danger
Japan has asked territories like Malta and Panama to suspend services targeted at Japanese users while strengthening public education campaigns and broadcasting awareness videos and concerts and cinemas.
Authorities are planning to distribute over 100,000 leaflets to warn residents about the dangers of offshore gambling. Data suggests that while most users initially access online casinos to play free games, 75% end up betting with real money.
Japanese officials want the new restrictions to reduce the overall visibility of offshore platforms which should in turn decrease traffic. The country has discussed blocking access to offshore sites but that is still under debate as it could infringe the constitutional right to privacy in communications.
A survey revealed only 40% of those who had used online casinos knew that they were illegal and awareness of people in their 20s was considerably lower.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
