Govt Eyeing System to Block Access to Online Casinos; But Cautious Due to Citizens’ Secrecy Rights

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:09 JST, April 13, 2025

The government is considering measures to forcibly block access to websites hosting online casinos.

Since such blocking has been cited as a possible violation of “secrecy of any means of communication” guaranteed in the Constitution and other regulations, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry aims to establish rules to build a system to allow telecommunications companies or internet service providers to appropriately block access to online casino sites.

Under such a system, people trying to view a website that is on a list of malicious or problematic websites are blocked from doing so and guided to a different web address.

The ministry will establish a panel of experts to consider measures against online casinos as early as late April. Constitutional experts and those involved in gambling addiction problems will exchange opinions, including those on whether the blocking system should be built.

A survey by the National Police Agency has revealed that an estimated about 3.37 million people in Japan have placed bets on these websites, and the total amount of money wagered is estimated to be about ¥1.2 trillion per year.

Since many people are said to have gambled in online casinos without knowing that doing so is illegal, there have been growing calls for the blocking system to be introduced.

To implement the system, however, telecom companies need to check the trail of connections of all users, a step that may violate the “secrecy of any means of communication.” There is also concern that the unnecessary blocking of information may impede a citizen’s “right to know.”

The ministry therefore is believed to have decided to consider developing a system that defines the conditions and scope of the blocking, while taking into account the impact of the system on the secrecy guaranteed in the Constitution, among other things.

Opinions call for caution regarding the introduction of such a system from the viewpoint of secrecy.

To combat websites that offer pirated manga and magazine content such as Mangamura, the government considered developing a system to block access to them in 2018. However, the plan was abandoned in the face of opposition.

Only access to websites carrying child pornography has been blocked in Japan, in line with the government’s interpretation that this was an “emergency measure” based on the interpretation of the law.