Ukraine Continues to Crack Down on Illegal Gambling

In the throes of war from the East, Ukraine has been ramping up its efforts to crack down on illegal gambling in the country. The country has revised its gambling watchdog, dismantling KRAIL – the old regulator, and introducing PlayCity.

PlayCity Continues to Go After Illegal Influencers and Websites

Along with that, Ukraine developed a monitoring system to track gambling transactions in real-time. Now, PlayCity is also taking a hard look at social media, which has been increasingly used to promote illegal gambling websites.

Many of these websites, Ukraine fears, are tied to the Russian Federation, syphoning off funds from ordinary citizens to plow them into its war machine against the country. In a statement on the regulator’s Telegram channel, the watchdog said:

“PlayCity has blocked Instagram pages that distributed illegal advertising of gambling. Among them are Kolia Zalipukha, Olia Filova, and 20 other popular bloggers who encouraged people to play at online casinos.”

According to the regulator, many bloggers feigned their online play, too, to promote gambling. For example, PlayCity said that certain gambling influencers who were now blocked on Instagram had pretended to be winning money.

This is why PlayCity has suspended its accounts, calling it manipulative advertising. “Manipulative advertising of gambling is a violation of the law. The PlayCity agency’s priority is to create a safe environment for gambling participants,” PlayCity wrapped up.