By mid-2024, there was a clear impression that someone was deliberately trying to strengthen the illegal gambling market as opposed to the legal one. The media space as well as all legislative initiatives seem to be aimed at discrediting legal gambling and destroying it as an economic niche. Despite this, the legal business has survived, and illegal operators have begun to experience "some discomfort" in their work thanks to the efforts of CRGL.
Recently, I mentioned that CRGL has stepped up its fight against illegal operators, particularly on the Internet. This was facilitated by the conclusion of a partnership with Meta Platforms Inc. which operates the largest social networks Facebook and Instagram. This partnership helped to create an effective mechanism for combating illegal gambling advertising on these social networks. As of today, hundreds of advertising messages have been blocked and dozens of bloggers who advertised illegal gambling have been banned.
However, the fight against illegal operators is not limited to partnerships with foreign companies. To increase the effectiveness of its work in this area, the Commission is also strengthening its cooperation with the relevant law enforcement agencies in the country, in particular the SSU.
As a result of joint activities of the CRGL and the Security Service of Ukraine, on 12 September 2024, the National Centre for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine issued Order No. 767/2572 "On Blocking Domain Names”. This order will result in the restriction of access to 444 websites that provided access to illegal gambling.
In total, within the framework of cooperation between the CRGL and the SSU, several orders were issued from April to September 2024, which resulted in the restriction of access to 3,200 domain names and their subdomains related to the provision of access to illegal gambling.
Such cooperation is very important in several ways.
Player protection. The more difficult it is for players to access illegal gambling platforms, the better their money and personal data will be protected. In addition, the outflow of players from illegal gambling sites is the basis of an effective fight against them, because if there are no players, there is no money, and therefore no business.
Stabilisation of competition conditions. The more illegal gambling websites are closed down, the easier it becomes for legal gambling organisers to operate. After all, having acquired the appropriate licences and paid taxes, they have the right to operate in the appropriate competitive environment that the state should provide. Illegal operators are always about violating these conditions, which means that the more effectively the state fights them, the better it is for the legal market.
Fighting gambling addiction. Although gambling addiction in Ukraine is not widespread there are still players who suffer from it. I have repeatedly emphasised that illegal operators are the main source of its spread. Therefore, the fewer of them there are and the harder it is for them to work, the more effective the fight against gambling addiction will be.
I hope that in the future, CRGL's partnership with the relevant law enforcement agencies will only strengthen, and it will become increasingly unprofitable to run an illegal gambling business in Ukraine. After all, the elimination of illegal *operators is the key to the survival of the legal gambling market and the protection of players' rights.
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