The General Directorate of National Lottery Administration (MPI) fights against sites that provide places and opportunities for gambling on the internet, in line with the Law on the Regulation of Publications Made on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed through These Publications and the relevant legislation.
The General Directorate, authorized by the Regulation on Games of Fortune Played in Virtual Environments, conducted examinations and research on the sites due to the activities carried out on the internet in 2023.
Content that would constitute the crime of providing a place and opportunity for gambling was found on most of the sites in question.
In this context, 168 thousand 30 websites were reported to BTK last year.
Access to 160 thousand 273 of these was blocked. While 5 thousand 898 sites with illegal content are inactive, operations are continuing for 1859 sites.
When examined by month, last year the most access barriers were imposed in October with 23 thousand 268, and the least in January with 1957.
While the administration notified BTK about 239 thousand 334 websites between 2006 and 2023, 230 thousand 10 of them were closed.
Thus, last year's applications constituted approximately 70 percent of the sites whose access was blocked in the said period.
THE USA IS FIRST IN THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
The places of origin of the top 10 illegal betting and gambling sites reported to BTK last year have also been revealed.
Accordingly, the USA ranked first with 73 thousand 175 websites. This country was followed by Armenia with 41 thousand 607 sites, the Netherlands with 19 thousand 757 sites and Germany with 5 thousand 627 sites.
Other destinations on the list were Hong Kong, the Philippines, Seychelles, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Iran, respectively.
During the review and research activities, a large number of bank account information, through which the relevant sites tried to transfer money with their participants, and real and legal persons who mediate money transfer through these accounts were detected.
Investigation and research reports were prepared regarding the accounts and persons in question, and attempts were made to take and implement judicial and administrative measures before the relevant institutions.
JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS HAS BEEN STARTED
As a result of monitoring on social media platforms, decisions were made to block access to user and content creator accounts that engage in activities such as advertising, directing, informing and encouraging illegal betting and gambling sites, and a judicial and administrative process was initiated against the users of the relevant accounts.
Public institutions and organizations, private organizations and citizens can also make a report.
Complaints and notifications made through CIMER or the reporting line on the administration's website are meticulously evaluated and intervened.