Google remove gambling apps from Vietnamese store

Google has finally removed 56 Vietnamese-language gambling apps from the Google Play store, leaving gamblers in the country less mobile gambling options.

This came into force after a complaint filed by the country’s information and communication ministry to the tech giant.

The country’s ministry of information and communications on Wednesday announced that Google has heeded to its demand to remove the real-money gambling apps from the Google Play marketplace. The apps include ones offering lottery, casino, and card games.

A report by VNS media service, the Vietnam Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information requested that 40 of the apps be pulled down after violating the county’s prohibition of online casino gambling.

The other 16 apps were removed for illegally manipulating users’ data, which is a violation of Google Play rules.

Aside from in countries like the UK, France, and Ireland, Google has since August 2017, lessen it a prohibition on real-money gambling apps.

A Vietnam government website quoted Google’s head for Public Policy and Government Relations for Asia–Pacific markets, Helena Lersch, saying the company would remove gambling apps that local authorities find to be violating its laws.

Apple has also taken such steps in recent years and was reported that the country removed numerous gambling apps from its China-facing App Store. This was after China’s state broadcaster reported that such apps were still functional on the Apple Store despite the criminalisation of all forms of online gambling in China.