{"id":777041402,"date":"2026-04-24T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777041402"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:11:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:11:32","slug":"japan-weighs-website-blocking-as-online-casino-enforcement-hits-multi-year-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japan-weighs-website-blocking-as-online-casino-enforcement-hits-multi-year-high","title":{"rendered":"Expert panel sees effectiveness of blocking online gambling sites in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Expert panel flags effectiveness of access restrictions while warning of constitutional risks amid rising illegal gambling cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Japan.- An expert panel under Japan\u2019s communications ministry has concluded that website blocking is an effective tool to curb online casino gambling, which remains illegal in Japan. Jiji Press reports that the panel&#8217;s draft report finds that the effectiveness of blocking \u201ccannot be denied\u201d but also raises concerns that it may infringe on constitutionally protected rights, including the secrecy of communications and freedom of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report recommended that authorities first assess whether alternatives have been fully explored, including controls on advertising and  public policy measures aimed at limiting user engagement with illegal operators. The panel said website blocking should form part of a <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japan-makes-first-arrests-over-online-casino-advertising-in-landmark-crackdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">broader, coordinated policy framework<\/a> under the country\u2019s revised basic law on gambling addiction, which came into effect in September last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, Police conducted the <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japan-records-highest-online-gambling-enforcement-cases-since-2018\">highest number of enforcement cases<\/a> against illegal online gambling in Japan since 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Philippines-11-arrested-for-illegal-online-e-sabong-betting-900x600-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/21-arrested-in-taiwan-over-alleged-cross-border-money-laundering-linked-to-gambling-sites'>21 arrested in Taiwan over alleged cross-border money laundering linked to gambling sites<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expert panel flags effectiveness of access restrictions while warning of constitutional risks amid rising illegal gambling cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777041405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"","focusai_entities":"","focusai_location":"","focusai_target_profile":"","focusai_suggestions":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[20326,470,4138],"class_list":["post-777041402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-japan","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777041402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777041402"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777041402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777041412,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777041402\/revisions\/777041412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777041405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777041402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777041402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777041402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}