Indonesia Blocks Nearly 3.8 Million Gambling Websites Amid Alarming Social Concerns

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- In an effort to eliminate illegal activities and foster a more secure internet for its residents, Indonesia has blocked 3,796,902 online gambling sites between July 17 last year and October 9.

In a statement, the Communication and Information Technology Ministry said it has also blocked 31,751 gambling-related links on educational institution websites and 31,812 links on government sites.

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Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said these actions are important. 

“The blocking is part of our ongoing cyber patrols,” he said, adding that there is a need to protect vulnerable groups, especially young people, from the dangers of online gambling.

The ministry, working with Bank Indonesia, has taken action against 573 e-wallet accounts linked to gambling and has asked the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to block 7,599 bank accounts connected to these activities.

“At least 21,000 gambling-related keywords have been reported to Google and over 5,793 to Meta as part of our strategy,” he added.

Earlier, CNN Indonesia reported on Monday that a 36-year-old father in East Jakarta was arrested for selling his 11-month-old child for 15 million rupiah (around US$955) to buy two new mobile phones for daily use and for online gambling.

The child’s mother, who works in Balikpapan, Kalimantan Timur, alerted authorities after finding out what had happened recently.

The Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Centre (PPATK) revealed that online gambling transactions in the republic reached 100 trillion rupiah (about US$6.4 billion) in the first quarter of this year.

-- BERNAMA