BTRC closed 331 online gambling sites
Recently, 331 gambling sites were blocked from Bangladesh's domestic network as part of regular surveillance by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's (BTRC) ‘Digital Security Cell’. In addition, after contacting the authorities of the international technology company and the search engine 'Google', when 150 Google apps related to online gambling or betting were reported to be closed, the Google authorities have already closed 14 apps from the Play Store and the necessary steps have been taken to close the rest of the apps. At the same time, 27 such Facebook links and 69 YouTube links were reported for closure due to promotion of gambling websites and Google apps through Facebook and YouTube and training related to online gambling, 17 Facebook links and 17 YouTube links were closed by authorities and the remaining links Closure proceedings are in progress.
According to the rules of the app, cash money, credit or debit card is required to buy game chips. With the availability of credit or debit cards, many have turned to online gambling. Some criminal gangs are exploiting this opportunity to smuggle millions of taka out of the country. Apart from mobile apps, criminals also participate in online games/gambling directly through various websites/domains and for this purpose firstly opening and registering accounts through various websites hosted in the country and abroad. Then one has to participate in gambling by depositing a certain amount of money through a domestic or internationally acceptable card or any other means. Online gamblers exchange money in various mobile banking including bKash, Rocket and Nagad.
Despite being banned in the country according to the existing law, illegal online gambling or betting is being done every moment around different league matches including domestic and international football, cricket and tennis games through various websites and apps. Although the rate has been reduced publicly due to the continued crackdown by the law enforcement agencies, the online game continues to grow and young people are addicted to it. Thousands of people and their families are becoming destitute due to gambling. This monitoring activity of BTRC on online gambling or betting websites will continue and necessary steps will be taken to stop it. All the citizens of the country are also requested to notify the BTRC by email or in written form mentioning the URL of the online gambling site.
