Ukraine asks Google, Apple to remove illegal gambling apps

This was reported by the Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation's document sent in response to the MP states that the agency held talks with Apple and Google on the ban of gambling apps without a corresponding license in the UA zone in their stores. They also added that the negotiations are ongoing.

“At the same time, along with the above emails, the Ministry of Digital Transformation sent a list of gambling apps provided by Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries to Apple and Google to check and block them in their app stores in the absence of a corresponding license in the UA zone,” the letter says.

Zheleznyak reminded that, according to the National Security and Defense Council's decision, the Ministry of Digital Transformation was to negotiate a ban on illegal casino apps in stores in Ukraine.

At the same time, the MP emphasized that the App Store has 35 such illegal online applications, and the Play Market has 24.

Online gambling in Ukraine

On March 29, 2024, a petition was registered in Ukraine to restrict the work of online casinos. It collected the required number of signatures for consideration in half a day.

The author of the petition drew attention to the harm that the gambling business causes to the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian society.

In return, Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to collect all the analytics on the issue and propose a solution.

On April 20, Zelenskyy enacted the NSDC decision “On Counteracting the Negative Effects of Gambling on the Internet.”