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Japan has moved a step closer to introducing website blocking against illegal online casinos after an expert panel advising the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications concluded that the measure should not be ruled out as part of the country’s wider crackdown on unlicensed gambling.
The panel’s final report, adopted on 22 July, concludes that blocking access to online casino websites could be an effective way of reducing illegal gambling, while acknowledging the significant constitutional and technical issues that would need to be overcome before any such system could be implemented.
The report follows more than a year of deliberations by the ministry’s study group, established in April 2025 to examine methods of preventing access to offshore gambling sites, which remain illegal for players located in Japan despite being licensed in other jurisdictions.
A public consultation on the draft report attracted 236 submissions from organisations and individuals, with most respondents supporting the introduction of blocking measures. Supporters argued that blocking would reduce opportunities for young people and vulnerable consumers to access illegal gambling sites and that existing enforcement tools have become increasingly ineffective.
However, the consultation also highlighted strong legal concerns. Opponents argued that internet service providers would need to inspect users’ communications to determine which websites they were attempting to access, potentially infringing the constitutional protection of the secrecy of communications. Internet governance organisations, including JPNIC, have also warned that DNS blocking can be circumvented and should only be considered after careful assessment of both its effectiveness and its impact on fundamental rights.
Rather than recommending immediate implementation, the panel concluded that blocking should remain a policy option if other measures fail to reduce illegal gambling. The report sets out conditions that would need to be satisfied before such powers could be introduced, including demonstrating that existing countermeasures are insufficient and that the public benefit outweighs the restrictions imposed on users’ rights.
Japan is simultaneously pursuing a series of alternative enforcement initiatives. These include making it illegal to post content on social media directing users to online casino sites, increasing cooperation with overseas jurisdictions hosting gambling operators, and requesting foreign operators to prevent access from within Japan. The government intends to assess the effectiveness of these measures as early as this autumn before making a final decision on whether to proceed with website blocking.
