Logo of social media X shown in a smartphone. (Photo: Antara)

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Communications and
Information Ministry (Kominfo) summoned representatives from the Singapore
office of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to address concerns
regarding online gambling advertisements on the platform.

Speaking at a press conference on February 29, Semuel
Abrijani Pangerapan, director-general of informatics application at the
ministry, said the ministry wanted to streamline the process of identifying and
removing gambling content without manual intervention.

Pangerapan said that they issue a ‘notice to take down’ for
such content, but it becomes cumbersome if it repeats. Indonesian authority
asked the platform to develop a system for automatic handling.

Concerns among netizens have escalated due to the
proliferation of online gambling advertisements on X, involving public figures.
This was deemed disruptive, appearing in search results even for users who did
not follow accounts promoting online gambling.

According to a recent survey by Populix, 63% of internet
users claimed they have been exposed to online gambling ads, with 41% of
respondents admitting an interest in visiting online gambling sites after
seeing such advertisements. Out of this group, 16% eventually tried online
gambling.

In 2023, Kominfo took down 810,785 pieces of content
related to online gambling, nearly quadrupling the number removed in 2022.

Kominfo Minister Budi Arie disclosed that stern warnings and
ultimatums were issued to various social media platforms, including Meta in
October 2023 and X in January 2024. These warnings led to
Meta removing 1.65 million online gambling content pieces and 450,000 related
advertisements from August to October 2023.

Indonesia’s law governing electronic
transactions and information prohibits online gambling, imposing
severe penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and fines of up to 10 billion
Rp (645,000 USD) for operators found guilty of operating gambling sites./.