Indonesian Govt to Form Task Force to Tackle Online Gambling

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has chaired a limited meeting which discussed the efforts taken to eradicate online gambling in the country on Thursday 18 April, at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi, in his press statement after the limited meeting, said that the Government will form a task force to counter online gambling.

“It has been decided that within a week, we will formulate measures to form an integrated task force in order to eradicate online gambling,” Budi said.

Minister for Communication and Information Technology mentioned that forming a cross-ministries/institutions task force is aimed to handle online gambling more thoroughly, collaboratively and efficiently.

“Gambling is an illegal act based on regulations. So, we need to impose measures effectively to settle it,” Budi stated, adding that his ministry will focus on handling online gambling websites and contents, while the law enforcement officers will enforce the law.

“Our authority is only to take down the websites, while the Financial Services Authority (OJK) blocks their financial accounts, and then followed by law enforcement officers, police officers, and the public prosecution service officers,” he remarked.

Similarly, OJK’s Chairperson of Commissioner Board Mahendra Siregar also highlighted the importance of holistic measures in eradicating online gambling in Indonesia.

“Some online gambling activities are not conducted in Indonesia, some are cross-borders, some do not use bank accounts, some needs to be tracked and traced through bank accounts, including transfers and so on. So, the next layers must also be addressed, and that way it leaves no empty rooms,” Mahendra explained.

Mahendra said that according to the institution’s authority, from the end of 2023 to March 2024, OJK has blocked around 5000 bank accounts that indicate its relation to online gambling.

“So far, we have cooperated closely with Communications and Information Technology Ministry. So, if we receive a list of bank accounts suspected to be used or are being used in online gambling activities, we immediately block them, and it has reached up to 5000 bank accounts,” Mahendra mentioned.