Jakarta (ANTARA) – Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi stated that the Online Gambling Eradication Task Force had reduced access to online gambling in Indonesia by 50 percent in its first month of operation.
“As per data of the PPATK (Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center) in 2024, the task force’s intervention declined people’s access to online gambling by 50 percent and declined people’s deposits on online gambling sites by Rp34.49 trillion (US$2.12 billion),” he revealed.
The minister made the statement during a dissemination of information on gambling prevention in Jakarta on Thursday.
Setiadi explained that, as part of the task force, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics conducted content moderation, blocked access to content containing online gambling, and promoted online gambling prevention through activities to increase digital literacy, among other efforts.
The ministry proposed blocking 573 e-wallet accounts related to online gambling to Bank Indonesia from July 17, 2023, to July 23, 2024.
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During that period, the government cut off access to 23,616 items of gambling-related content embedded on government agencies’ website pages. It handled 22,205 items of gambling-related content embedded on agencies’ website pages.
The government has proposed to Google to handle 20,595 keywords related to online gambling from November 2023 to July 2024.
From December 15, 2023, to July 23, 2024, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics found 3,961 keywords related to online gambling on Meta platforms.
Furthermore, from September 2023 to July 23, 2024, the ministry proposed to the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to block 6,199 bank accounts related to online gambling.
“If those interventions can be strengthened, the decline in access to online gambling sites can reach 80 percent, and people’s deposits on online gambling sites can be reduced by Rp45.79 trillion (US$2.81 billion),” he remarked.
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Translator: Livia Kristianti, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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