Is online gambling legal in Malaysia?

Legal overview

Malaysia does not license online casinos. Gambling is governed mainly by the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 and the Betting Act 1953, which prohibit unlicensed gaming and betting. Legal gambling is limited to licensed lottery and number-forecast operators, pool betting and a licensed land-based casino resort at Genting Highlands. No local operator may offer online casino games, and foreign licences are not recognised.

The two 1953 laws were written for physical gaming houses. In June 2023 the Home Minister told parliament that online gambling is not covered by them and that operators had challenged police action in court successfully, and said the government was determined to amend the law. In January 2026 the Home Ministry said it was studying amendments to the Common Gaming Houses Act and the inclusion of online gambling offences in a proposed Cyber Crime Bill, together with the Finance and Communications ministries, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the National Cyber Security Agency. No amendment had been reported as passed at the time of checking.

Even so, online gambling is treated as illegal in practice. The police enforce the gambling laws, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) supports them with blocking and takedowns under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Online Safety Act 2025. Between 1 January 2025 and May 2026, MCMC had 457,562 items of online gambling content removed and 1,778 gambling websites blocked by internet providers. Players using offshore casinos have no legal protection in Malaysia.