KazakhstanThe Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan has approved a Comprehensive Plan to combat illegal gambling and Ludomania for 2024-2026. The authorities have allocated about 80,931,200 tenge (182,072 USD) from the budget for a whole set of measures. Among the settlement steps are negotiations with YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
As a result of the plan, the number of blocked online casinos and illegal betting sites is expected to increase from 4,500 to 7,722 over 3 years, and the number of people who regularly participate in gambling and betting is expected to decrease from 350,000 to 201,600.
Social research will be conducted to identify the reasons for the growth of gambling addiction in Kazakhstan, and special tests will be created. Extra attention will be paid to the prevention of gambling addiction among various segments of the population. Educational activities, and medical and social rehabilitation will be implemented and interactive portals for consultation and assistance will be launched.
In total, the plan envisages 42 activities in 4 areas:
- Organization of gambling addiction prevention.
- Detection of gambling addiction among different segments of the country’s population.
- Treatment, medical and social rehabilitation of addicts.
- State regulation of gambling businesses.
Let’s list the most interesting steps of the state regulation plan:
- December 2024 – “Holding negotiations with the administrations of online platforms (“YouTube”, “Facebook”, “Instagram”, “TikTok”) with the initiation of the issue of improving the quality of advertising content moderation performed by automated moderation systems of online platforms to prevent the spread of online casino advertising and gambling propaganda.”
- August 2024 – “Strengthening criminal and administrative liability for violations of legislation in the sphere of gambling”.
- August 2024 – “Prohibition of advertising of gambling and betting on the streets, in mass media, and on the Internet”.
- August 2024 – “Introduction of a legislative ban on sending advertisements of bookmakers and totalizators via SMS by telecom operators”.
- September 2024 – “Introduction of mandatory biometric identification of betting participants when registering on the bookmaker’s website, as well as when depositing and withdrawing funds from the account”.
Kazakhstan has been actively fighting illegal online casinos and bookmakers recently. In the first half of 2024, 5164 websites and advertising links were blocked in the Republic. Since 2021, 36 gambling establishments have been deprived of their licenses, and some more are being inspected.
Restrictions for bloggers regarding gambling advertising have also been prepared.
“Popular bloggers and famous citizens will not be able to advertise bookmakers and casinos on social networks. They will not have such a right. A special norm is being introduced into the Administrative Code and a fine of 60 monthly calculation indexes (221,520 KZT in 2024) is envisioned,” Beisenbayev noted at the Majilis plenary session.
The official documents of the new Complex Plan are available at: https://legalacts.egov.kz/npa/view?id=15051610
