Japan is looking to crack down on illegal online casinos through the implementation of a new law that will make it harder for people to play at unregulated casinos while also targeting the providers of such services.
Japan to Toughen Measures Against Illegal Online Gambling
A new bill is supposedly coming by the end of the month as Japan is also gearing up to introduce its first casino resort project that will help the country compete on the regional gaming scene, hoping to boost tourism and attract high roller gamblers. Two other projects are supposedly coming as well, as the Diet’s has been warming up to the idea of having three such venues in total once again.
The focal point of the bill would be to prevent the operation of online casino platforms, but a fair bit of it will also address gambling addiction, which is becoming a more pervasive problem among young people, especially since the pandemic forced everyone to stay home and alone.
The bill will also supposedly prohibit the advertisement of online casino platforms as well as the inclusion of any links and other prompts that can help players get to these platforms and play there. It is not exactly clear how Japan will ensure that these rules are upheld, as the country has not been going after illegal online casinos, which operate even to this day.
Many of these platforms are unlikely to comply with the country’s new gambling laws that concern online casinos, as they are happy to operate offshore and beyond Japan’s legal clout. However, by introducing the new law, Japanese authorities will be given a wider remit to enact it and crack down on organizers of such games that originate in the country.
According to Japanese authorities, there are as many as 3.37 million people in the country who are currently gambling online in the country and they may be spending as much as $8.52 billion on such offshore gambling websites.
Gambling Addiction in Japan Continues to Be a Persistent Problem
The latest planned bill is also designed to highlight and back previous efforts to address the country’s gambling addiction issue, which has remained a largely stigmatized topic in society and one that is not easily talked about in public.
The government is seeing the urgency of such a move mostly because it has to cope with increasing levels of gambling addiction,n where 1-in-5 young Japanese people choose to gamble instead of paying bills.
News that Japan would seek to clamp down on online casinos in the country first circulated in April.