Several countries have banned or restricted online gambling, while other countries allow it. Currently, online gambling is legal in the United States and several Caribbean countries. But the problem of online gambling is that it may lead to gambling disorders.
The first attempts to regulate online gambling in the US started in the late 1990s. The US Senate introduced a bill in 1999 that would have made online gambling illegal. The bill would have prohibited online gambling for citizens, except for horse races. Other bills were introduced, such as the Goodlatte and Kyl bills.
The Fifth Circuit disagreed with the Department of Justice’s assertion that all forms of Internet gambling were illegal. Its statement was based on the Wire Act, which applied to all forms of Internet gambling.
Several studies have investigated the relationship between Internet gambling and mental health. Some studies have found links, while others haven’t. Most studies have used a single dataset from a European gambling site, but that may not apply to other online gamblers.
Studies have examined how unsustainable gambling affects individuals, as well as whether people with problem gambling behaviours are more likely to be offline than online. However, little evidence suggests that Internet gambling causes problems.
Research must continue to address the issue. Some online operators have implemented risk-detection methods, but there is a need for more in-depth analysis of the problem. There are also questions about how Internet gambling behaviours integrate with offline behaviours.
