Woodkirk Stone
Cambodia’s telecommunications regulator has blocked 15 illegal online lottery websites as its crackdown on all forms of online gambling continues.
According to a notice posted this week, the sites are mostly from Vietnam and include a popular lottery website called Vina24h.
The regulator said it “will continue to cooperate with national police, relevant authorities and all telecommunications operators to remove all domain names that operate and provide illegal online gambling and lottery services and circulars” , as reported by Phnom Penh Post Office.
The action relates to a directive issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen in August 2019 whereby Cambodia stopped issuing new online gaming licenses and opted not to renew existing licenses as of January 1, 2020. This directive included an order for authorities to intensify their investigations into online gambling operations in a bid to root out scams aimed at extorting money inside and outside Cambodia.
In announcing this week that the 15 websites had been blocked, Cambodia’s telecommunications regulator said its aim was “to help maintain security, public order and social order”.