Thailand's Digital Economy Ministry plans platform cooperation to curb illegal online gambling

Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy (DE) has outlined new steps against illegal online gambling after meeting representatives of several public health organisations. The groups discussed joint strategies that will rest on four pillars, one of which is the possibility of working directly with social media platforms.

One element involves official government channels that the public can use to report illegal gambling or to suggest more efficient ways of tackling it. Another focuses on closer cooperation between government departments, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior and law enforcement, with the aim of better protecting Thailand's online space and improving public education about gambling harm.

Search engine platforms have also been named as potential partners in keeping illegal gambling out of the country. The source indicates this most likely refers to companies such as Google. In addition, the plans include working groups that will collect and analyse online data. That information would be passed to platforms such as TikTok and Meta to help them take down illegal sites.

The ministry said that solving online gambling problems, including numerous illegal URLs, cannot be done by any single agency and requires cooperation from all sectors, especially members of the public who report information and clues. It added that the government will use such information to develop a surveillance system and coordinate with platforms and related agencies to respond quickly and effectively.

The reliance on Meta comes against a mixed backdrop. Meta recently began a strategic pilot with Nordic operator Paf aimed at countering the black market. Jesper Eliasson, Paf's Chief Business Development Officer, said Meta has shown initiative in learning about the illegal gambling sector, and that Paf will keep supplying information on black market operators and affiliates to build up the company's database. He said he did not know whether the effort would succeed, but that the first steps had been taken and Meta does not want illegal operators on its platform.

At the same time, Dutch online gambling trade body VNLOK has summoned Meta to court, claiming the company has repeatedly failed to address concerns that illegal operators use its platforms to attract Dutch consumers. The source concludes that, whatever the view of Meta's reliability, its role in the global fight against the black market should not be overstated.