Online gambling games with secret organizers and foreign management remain an urgent problem. Previously, young people were more often addicted to these gaming platforms, which cause serious financial losses to the country. Currently, there is a diversification in the age category.
Gambling addicts, whose negative impact is no less than that of drug addiction, are also a source of danger to society. A person who reaches the point of losing their work potential inevitably becomes both a burden and a threat to others.
Speaking to Modern.az on the matter, Milli Majlis member Azer Badamov stated that while betting games are permitted under Azerbaijani legislation, gambling games are prohibited in our country. Operators of betting games operate by obtaining special licenses:
“I also want to note that online betting games are not permitted in our country. Furthermore, our legislation does not allow the circulation of foreign betting games. In this regard, access to foreign online betting games is blocked, and cybersecurity measures are being taken.
However, large sums of money are circulated in foreign online betting games.
Thus, it is reported that the illegal circulation in the country in 2025 exceeds 100 million dollars. Forecasts also suggest that this will increase further in the near future. The current situation leads to the outflow of currency from the country and the deception of citizens.
From this perspective, I believe that our legislation should further tighten relevant measures to prevent foreign betting games from gaining a foothold within our country".
According to sociologist Elchin Bayramli, the problem is taking root in society and, alongside socio-economic crisis, also leads to criminality:
“There are two types of these games: those operating officially and legally, and those that are illegal via the internet.
Recently, people have been increasingly involved in online lottery and gambling games. Our citizens lose hundreds of millions of funds here annually. It is unknown who the administrators are or where the games are managed from; these are suspicious centers. They have no legal responsibility.
Other officially operating lotteries have certain obligations and are controlled by the state. They are located in Azerbaijan itself and are accessible. Many people lose there, and people experience problems, but foreign online games are even more terrible.
Children, young people, and the uneducated category fall into the trap.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs constantly conducts awareness campaigns and provides explanations regarding this. It even takes possible measures when detected. This is because some of them have people working in Azerbaijan, and measures are taken against such individuals.
However, completely preventing it is very difficult. Because the internet is such a network that our control capabilities there are problematic. This is a global system.
In the fight against these centers and companies, virtually the only way out remains: for people themselves to be educated, informed, and not deceived on this topic. There is a saying among the people: “Free cheese is only in a mousetrap”. This is precisely the reality. There is no mechanism in any foreign gambling or lottery system where someone can put in five or ten manats and win a million. Such a thing does not exist.
However, despite this, these platforms deceive people with attractive advertisements: fake winners, fake winnings are displayed. Some even go further by initially giving real winnings of five, ten, or fifty manats, transferring the funds to the account to encourage the person. Later, they embezzle several hundred, or even thousands of manats from that person.
Combating such cases is extremely difficult. Here, the responsibility primarily falls on the people themselves. It is not possible to fully solve this problem through administrative means. Certain technical steps can be taken, but legal difficulties exist. This is because these platforms operate in foreign locations not subject to Azerbaijani jurisdiction.
From a social perspective, this process creates serious complications. Firstly, a greed for easy money develops in people. People try to earn money through these means without working or exerting effort, which leads to laziness. Secondly, it leads to very severe consequences: there are people who lose their homes, property, all their money, fall into a quagmire of credit and debt, and whose families break apart.
This process leads to the destruction of people both materially and psychologically. People tie their hopes and dreams to these systems. When they do not achieve results, they fall into depression, and sometimes this situation leads to suicide. In other cases, people lose their reputation in society and are disgraced.
From a moral perspective, this is openly a sin. Gambling is considered one of the greatest sins in all religions and is unacceptable. The only way to prevent this problem is through people's conscious thinking. People must understand that they should generally stay away from gambling and lottery systems, especially online platforms of unknown origin. It is not possible to achieve real profit here. Even if it were, it is not the right path. One should rely on their own labor and effort.
It is important to move away from this psychology: the idea of “sitting in front of the internet and earning money by investing five or ten manats” is wrong. This cannot be eliminated by administrative methods, but only through knowledge, morality, and an ethical approach. As long as people seek easy gains, the likelihood of being deceived will be higher.
To win, one must work hard. This is the case all over the world. There is no concept of absolute and easy gain. Perhaps one person out of millions might win in a legal lottery, but this is an exception. Therefore, the media must play an important role in this matter, conduct awareness campaigns, and explain it to people.
On the other hand, gambling addiction often leads to crime. This is one of the types of psychological drug addiction. It is known throughout history that even the world's most famous gamblers could not escape this habit. A person who falls into this addiction, after losing everything, may resort to theft, fraud, and other illegal means to find money. This leads to an increase in criminal incidents.
In addition, certain awareness-raising activities are carried out by the state. However, technical measures are also necessary. In several countries, the blocking of such foreign resources is applied. Technical filtering systems can also be established in the Azerbaijani internet space to restrict such websites, applications, and advertisements. This is important from social, economic, and moral perspectives.
Unknown foreign entities plunder the money of Azerbaijani citizens, which creates economic damage, social problems, moral degradation, and criminal incidents.
Consequently, the root of the problem lies in moral values. If morality, ethics, and the fear of God are strong in society, people will not resort to these paths. When materialism is prioritized, family, friendship, ethics, and all other values are trampled upon.
To improve society's health, the promotion of moral values must be strengthened. Religious figures, intellectuals, media, and families must play an active role in this process. Children and young people should be encouraged not just to earn money, but to become moral individuals. Otherwise, the further increase of such incidents in the future is inevitable".
