Latest news with #onlineGambling
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Gambling law changes will open the door to more addiction, advocate says
Law changes are underway to allow 15 online gambling companies to legally operate in the country from February next year, including allowing advertising. Photo: RNZ / Alex Robertson New Zealanders gamble away billions of dollars annually. Now they don't even have to slide into a pub and sit in front of the pokies - they can tap into online sites and lose money from the comfort of their homes . All but two of those sites - Lotto and the TAB - are unlicensed and run from overseas. Even the Auckland and Christchurch casinos run their sites from Malta. They are not illegal, but they are not licensed here so it is illegal for them to advertise to Kiwi punters. Law changes are in the wind. They won't block international organisations from operating in New Zealand, but they will allow 15 licensed operators to legally operate in the country from February next year, including allowing advertising. The aim of Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden's amendment to the 2003 Gambling Act is to harness tax revenue and gain some measure of harm-mitigation. In the 2022/2023 financial year Kiwis collectively lost $2.76 billion to gambling, and Andree Froude from the Problem Gambling Foundation said with the way the industry was evolving, that figure is only going to increase. "People are just being bombarded by gambling advertisements, so that tends to normalise gambling and make it seem like it's just a normal activity or a normal part of life," she said. Van Velden announced the online gambling bill at the end of last year. Its purpose is "to regulate online casino gambling to facilitate a safer and compliant regulated online gambling market", she said. In a statement she said that, more importantly, it will prevent and minimise online gambling harm and limit opportunities for crime and dishonesty. Limited online options here have led to a boom in New Zealanders who participate in offshore online gambling, Froude said. "Although we haven't got any hard data around it, we do know from bank transaction data that people are gambling on these offshore sites." She said gambling on these sites does come with added risk, which is why the government is looking to increase the number of licensed casinos. That would give companies SkyCity and Christchurch Casino the opportunity to move their business back to New Zealand. They were operating offshore "essentially to get around our law because they've been waiting for this regulation to happen", Froude said. However, it's unclear whether either company will be successful in obtaining one of these licences. Van Velden has made it clear that New Zealand companies will not get preferential treatment over international ones. "I have considered whether or not it should be domestic priority or offshore priority. I think it's fair just to allow anybody to bid for one of the licenses, rather than try and say, just because you're here and you've been established for years in New Zealand, you're necessarily a better operator," she told RNZ in March. The bill will also be tougher on the rule breakers, with the penalty for unlicensed offshore businesses caught advertising in New Zealand increasing to $5 million. But the penalty for individuals who promote offshore gambling sites will remain capped at $10,000, which Froude believes is not enough. "If they're promoting overseas gambling illegally then the fine should be much bigger than what it currently is ... we just need to set a benchmark because promoting overseas gambling, even though it is prohibited, we've just seen so much of it," she said. A popular method for offshore companies is to use Kiwi influencers to promote their games on social media. This is illegal and the Department of Internal Affairs is cracking down on users involved in this. Many of them have been issued formal warning letters, and one influencer, Millie Elder-Holmes, has been fined $5000 for repeatedly promoting online gambling despite repeated warnings from the department to stop. Ultimately Froude said the goal is for the number of Kiwis who gamble to go down. But with these new changes, she's expecting usage to increase. "Because it's new to New Zealand, it's licensed in New Zealand. We just want to make sure that the harm minimisation measures, and the host responsibility measures are absolutely robust," she says. There are several measures Froude said the Problem Gambling foundation would like to see mandated in this bill. "We'd like to see mandatory pre-commitment, so somebody pre-determines the amount of money and the amount of time they're going to spend gambling. We would like to see credit cards being banned because people gambling with credit is really risky. "So there's lots of things that we want to see happen to make sure that we do get this right because we have concerns around [the bill] despite that. And there's lots we don't know, the devil will be in the detail with some of this." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Judge orders offshore gambling site Bodog to cease operations in Manitoba
A Manitoba judge has barred an offshore gambling site from operating in the province. The companies running and must cease operating the sister sites as well as any successors or replacements in a manner that's accessible to people in Manitoba, Court of King's Bench Judge Jeffrey Harris ruled in a court order signed Monday. Antigua and Barbuda-based companies Il Nido Ltd. and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. must implement geo-blocking technology so no one in the province can access or otherwise engage with any gambling products they offer, Harris ordered. The permanent injunction also orders the companies to cease any and all kinds of advertising, whether paid or unpaid, targeted at Manitobans. "The respondents' advertising … as a legitimate, lawful, 'safe,' or 'trusted' online gambling site, constitutes a false description of the respondents' goods and services that is likely to mislead the public," the ruling said. Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries filed a request for the injunction earlier this year on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, an advocacy group made up of the provincial gaming corporations in B.C., Saskatchewan, Quebec and Manitoba. The coalition said it hoped the case would set a precedent its jurisdictions could use in their fight against illegal gambling sites, which it said diverted revenue away from legitimate operations — and provincial coffers. The application argued that Bodog, which allowed players to place monetary bets on sporting events and casino games on the site, promoted itself to Manitobans as a legitimate service, even though Liquor & Lotteries has sole authority over gambling in the province. It argued the companies used the "free play site" to advertise their monetary gambling services on the .eu site. The site said it accepted players all across Canada except for those in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Millie Elder-Holmes fined $5000 for promoting online gambling
The internet personality Millie Elder-Holmes has been fined $5000 for promoting online gambling. It comes as part of a recent crackdown by the Department of Internal affairs on social media influencers using their platforms for that purpose. In a statement, a department spokesperson said Elder-Holmes was fined after ignoring an earlier warning in April. Elder-Holmes is the daughter of the late broadcaster Paul Holmes and Hinemoa Elder. Individuals can be fined up to $10,000 for promoting online gambling. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Malay Mail
22-05-2025
- Malay Mail
More than 150 mule accounts used for online gambling frozen in Penang, says chief minister
GEORGE TOWN, May 22 — Police have frozen a total of 150 mule accounts used for online gambling in Penang, involving RM32 million between 2023 and this year. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the police have conducted Ops Dadu continuously to bust illegal gambling and scam syndicates. 'There were 2,681 arrests by the police involving 2,337 online gambling cases with 1,390 charges in court in 2023 and 1,810 arrests involving 1,510 cases with 1,084 charges in court in 2024,' he said in reply to a question by Joseph Ng Soon Siang (DAP - Air Itam) at the state legislative assembly on the online gambling and scam cases in Penang. He added that this year, up to March, a total of 542 arrests were made involving 485 cases, while 255 charges in court were filed. Chow said the federal government has amended the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to introduce stronger penalties against cybercrimes, including online gambling and digital scams. 'The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has blocked thousands of online gambling sites,' he said. He noted that 6,381 sites were blocked between 2020 and 2022. 'MCMC has also terminated over 212,000 phone lines that were used to send spam related to gambling and scams,' he said. He said the police are working with MCMC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), and local governments to conduct joint raids and operations. He added that electricity and water supplies were also cut off at premises involved in illegal gambling activities. 'The government has conducted awareness programmes through various platforms to educate the public on the dangers of online gambling and cyber scams,' he said. He said similar awareness programmes were also implemented in schools to educate students on this matter. He acknowledged challenges in dismantling these online gambling syndicates, as they use multi-layered structures to avoid detection and enforcement action. 'The government is urging social media platforms to invest in AI to speed up the process of identifying and removing illegal gambling sites,' he said. He added that compulsory licensing for social media platforms was aimed at increasing accountability and easing enforcement action against illegal content.
