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Illegal betting and gambling activities in India have surged dramatically in recent years, with digital platforms accounting for a staggering 1.6 billion visits in just three months across four major sites, according to a report by Digital India Foundation.
One of thefindingsng finding mentioned in the report is that the organic search traffic to illegal betting sites crosbout with 184 million visits. The organic search figure exceeds the traffic driven by social media platforms, which contributed around 42.8 million visits, as per the data mentioned in the report. The mirror websites alone contributed significantly to the scale of the illegal market. Just three Parimatch mirrors alone generated an additional 266 million visits. The report adds, "While major digital platforms prohibit betting and gambling-related promotions, enforcement is highly inconsistent. Advertisements on Facebook Ad Network have grown exponentially in recent years." As per the report, despite repeated government interventions, including the blocking of websites and public advisories, illegal operators are continuously thriving. "Despite repeated government actions, including website blocking and advisories, illegal operatorscontinue to thrive, using advanced digital marketing tactics, seamless payment processing, andmirror websites to evade enforcement," the report adds. A key concern raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in 2023 was the role of online betting sites in enabling money laundering and terror financing, the report added. "1.098 billion visits to illegal platforms originated from users directly entering URLs--indicating success of past marketingreferrals, etc.errals etc," the report added. Going further, the report pointed out that experience fromjurisdictions,isdictions includinthe UK,orway, UK, Denmark, Belgium, and tStates,ted States shows that blocking alone is ineffective. These countries have seen greater success by combining website blocking with marketing restrictions, payment blocking, and the use of whitelists and blocklists, the report added. The report further suggested that India must adopt a holistic, ecosystem-based approach to address the surge in illegal betting and gambling. "India must shift from the current fragmented enforcement strategy to a comprehensive ecosystem-based approach that effectively disrupts the key enablers sustaining illegal betting and gambling operations," the report added. It further added that the restrictions should include curbing digital media channels that drive user acquisition, tightening financial regulations to block illicit transactions, and enhancing enforcement mechanisms to ensure long-term disruption of these illegal operations. (ANI)
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