Overview of Malaysia's Online Gambling Laws - News | News

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Overview of Malaysia’s Online Gambling Laws

Gambling laws refers to regulations and legal frameworks that guide gambling created by the government. These laws exist to ensure responsible online and physical gambling, customer protection, prevention of fraud, and protection of the integrity of the gambling industry. Gambling laws cover important information like licensing and regulation, legality, player protection, advertising and promotion guidelines, and financial security.

In Malaysia, online gambling is becoming popular and has a considerable number of participants, necessitating the need for gambling laws. The increase in online gambling platforms has elicited several queries about their legality and possible effects on society.

Gambling has been an integral part of Malaysian culture for centuries and has always provided entertainment and a source of social interaction for Malaysians. One such example is horse racing, which has been around since the 1800s. It has always gathered a lot of participants who place bets on their preferred horses at the racecourse, of which there are currently three in Malaysia. While this traditional form of gambling is still prevalent and legal in Malaysia, there has been more development in the country with the emergence of technology and the internet, resulting in a gradual transition to online gambling. This transition to online sites has greatly affected the gambling atmosphere in Malaysia, posing new advantages and disadvantages for policymakers and regulators.

In Malaysia, online gambling is illegal in that Malaysian-based sites cannot obtain a licence there. However, a gray area exists in the form of offshore casinos which are licenced by authorities overseas. Therefore, a Malaysia casino which is based offshore is not affected by those online gambling Malaysia rules and laws. It would be outside of the country’s legal reach. Thus, the sites have their servers on the shores of other countries and accept registrations from Malaysian players (source: https://www.business2communitymalaysia.com/en/gambling/malaysia-online-casinos).

But how did Malaysia come to be in the situation it currently finds itself in? Well, the laws that apply to the online gambling space in Malaysia and make it a challenge to establish gambling in the country include the Betting Act of 1953, the Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953, and the Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998.

The Betting Act of 1953 applies to physical and online gambling. It prevents gambling and related activities that lack endorsement from the government. The Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953 criminalizes the activities of common gaming houses where persons partake in games of chance to win rewards. This law also criminalizes illegal online gambling platforms. The Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998 regulates communication services in Malaysia. It provides the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) the right to regulate digital services and, by extension, the power to restrict all connections to online platforms that engage in illegal or unlicensed online gambling.

The possibility of the Malaysian government approving online gambling is uncertain, as the current stance is dictated by socio-cultural factors like religion. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and gambling is considered haram (sin). While it does not look likely, with many factors conspiring against the adoption and integration of gambling in the country, there’s precedence set by another Asian country, as gambling in Thailand is set to become a possibility soon.