Online Gambling Sites Blocked in Singapore

Thanks to the Remote Gambling Act passed in Singapore in 2014, starting with February 2nd Singapore has started blocking hundreds of unauthorized gambling sites. Singapore Financial Institutions have blocked money transfers to and from unregulated sites so the regular players are not able to withdraw the money that they had deposited.

The Remote Gambling Act is designed to regulate the various forms of online gambling in Singapore. Amongst the other things, the gambling act states:

The purpose of the bill is to prevent remote gambling from being a source of crime and to protect young and vulnerable people from being harmed by remote gambling. The person who invites and permits young person to Gamble in Singapore will face strict penalties.

Gambling sites and relating advertisements and promotions are illegal and every site that promotes offending content will be blocked according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Remote Gambling bill does not target social games; for example Candy Crush Saga, where players don’t have a chance to acquire money or convert game credits into the money will remain intact.

Mr Iswaran, Second Home Affairs Minister, has explained that the line between social gaming and gambling is a thin one and that the laws must be prepared to regulate this rapidly changing sector.

Phone gambling, inviting others to gamble, receiving bets and placing bets are all prohibited and anyone found to break these laws will face severe penalties.

Singapore has blocked many sites including some of the biggest names in the industry like bet365, Ladbrokes and 888.Com and any attempt to make monetary transactions to or from these sites will be blocked. Up to this point, Singapore has also blocked access to about 100 websites that promote pornography or contain hateful content.

The banks in Singapore were informed that the act came into the force on February 2nd and all licensed banks, card issuers and operators of any payment system have blocked payment orders involving mobile application or internet gaming websites.

Spokesman of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced that the list of the blocked websites will be reviewed, but the results of the review will not made public.