Malaysia’s Next Anti-Gambling Law

Malaysia is done pretending illegal gambling is a “back alley” problem. It’s a phone-and-feed problem now—and the government is drafting law to match.

Deputy PM Fadillah Yusof says a new federal bill targeting illegal gambling (including online) could reach the Dewan Rakyat as early as the next sitting—if the draft is ready.

If the law lands with real enforcement levers—blocking, platform accountability, and coordinated police action—it could finally squeeze the ecosystem that thrives on ads, affiliates, and payment rails.

Treat this like a compliance inflection point: the next wave won’t focus on “who’s in the shop,” but on who enables the link.

Key points (operator-grade summary)

• Malaysia is drafting a new federal law targeting illegal gambling and online gambling; it could be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting if ready.
• The government hasn’t named the bill yet and is still weighing standalone legislation vs. amendments to existing acts (including the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 / cybercrime frameworks).
• Enforcement pressure is increasingly aimed at the digital supply chain (ads, platforms, links, and access), not just physical venues.
• Official data has repeatedly flagged Facebook as the dominant source of reported/removed gambling ads/content.
• Sarawak police have publicly emphasized system-level blocking and coordination with MCMC/state digital entities as the next enforcement direction.

Malaysia Targets Illegal Online Gambling: New Federal Bill Could Hit Parliament Soon

What officials are actually drafting (and why the structure matters)

Fadillah has been consistent on three points:

• The government is drafting a federal law to address illegal gambling, including online gambling.
• It may be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting, depending on readiness.
• It’s still undecided whether this becomes a standalone act or is folded into existing statutes—most notably the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 and/or a broader cybercrime framework.

That last point is the tell. A standalone act usually signals new powers and new definitions. Amendments often signal patch-and-extend—useful, but sometimes slower and easier to litigate around.

Why Malaysia is accelerating now: illegal gambling moved to mobile + social

The enforcement headache has changed shape:

• Social media is the primary distribution channel. Malaysia’s communications leadership reported that 93%+ of removed gambling content came from Facebook across a multi-year monitoring period.
• Blocking has scale, but the pipeline refills fast. Authorities have cited about 5,025–5,026 gambling websites blocked (2022 to early Feb 2025) alongside large-scale takedowns of gambling-related content.
• Sarawak’s policing posture is shifting: officials have openly described moving toward system blocking and deeper collaboration with the MCMC and state digital partners to disrupt access, not just raid endpoints.

In other words, Malaysia is following the global enforcement logic: if the user journey begins on an ad and ends on a link, then the ad, the platform, the link, and the payment route become the battlefield.

What “stronger legal oversight” likely means in practice

Based on recent parliamentary replies and enforcement commentary, Malaysia’s policy direction is leaning toward a tighter toolkit:

1. Modernising old laws that predate remote gambling
   Malaysia’s core gambling statutes date back to the 1950s, and multiple analyses have highlighted how legacy drafting struggles to cover online mechanics cleanly.
   Separately, reporting indicates police have proposed updating definitions and strengthening provisions to address remote/online methods.
2. Embedding online gambling offences into cybercrime infrastructure
   The Home Ministry has indicated cross-government workstreams reviewing amendments and the possible inclusion of online gambling offences in a proposed Cyber Crime Bill-type framework.
3. Making platform enforcement more actionable
   Malaysia already uses content and site-blocking approaches via the MCMC, and officials have pushed platforms to move faster and more proactively.
   In parallel, local policy discussions have referenced enforcement pathways under the Communications and Multimedia Act for unlawful online content and website blocks.

My take: the most meaningful version of this bill won’t just raise penalties. It will reduce friction for coordinated blocking, evidence gathering, and platform-level accountability—because that’s where illegal operators are currently most scalable.

Conclusion

The Malaysian government is drafting new legislation to address illegal gambling activities, including online gambling, amid growing concerns over its social impact and the need for stronger legal oversight, according to The Straits Times.

From a practical compliance perspective, this isn’t just “another bill.” It’s Malaysia acknowledging that illegal gambling has industrialized through social distribution and mobile access—and that the next enforcement phase must target the infrastructure that makes illegal gambling easy to find, easy to fund, and easy to repeat.

Tags: Malaysia, Asia iGaming, Illegal Gambling, Online Gambling, Regulation, Enforcement, MCMC, Social Media Ads, Compliance, Cybercrime