Budi Arie Setiadi, currently serving as the communications minister of Indonesia, announced on August 10th that the Indonesian government has sent letters to 21 providers that warn of sanctions surrounding illicit gambling. At present, the companies responsible for 42 electronic payment applications are under suspicion of having allegedly enabled their clients to utilize their services for payments tied to online gambling.
Each operator will be required to launch an internal audit of their services and confirm that none of their clients have utilized their services for illicit activities. Once it has received a letter, a given company will have seven working days to launch an investigation and send the results to the Ministry of Communications and Informatics (Kominfo). Failure to meet the deadline would result in “administrative sanctions,” according to Mr Setiadi.
Indonesia’s Gambling Landscape
Indonesia’s laws currently prohibit any and all forms of gambling, including iGaming and sports betting that take place online. While some jurisdictions prohibit operators from offering gambling services but do not prosecute gamblers for wagering, Indonesia deems individuals who partake in gambling to be criminals as well.
In spite of this, many Indonesians continue taking risks in order to enjoy slots or place bets on sports games thanks to off-shore online platforms that can be accessed on desktop browsers and on smartphone devices. According to the latest data, more than 3 million Indonesians were able to partake in online gambling in the past 12 months, which has resulted in losses of almost $20 billion. The figure is surprisingly close to Australians’ annual gambling losses of $25 billion, considering both in-person and online wagering are legal in the country.
Nonetheless, the Indonesian government’s firm stance on gambling has resulted in the successful identification and shutdown of over 2 million online gambling websites that were targeting Indonesian gamblers.
Ongoing Efforts to Tackle Illicit Gambling
While there have been arguments in favor of the legalization of online gambling in Indonesia, such notions have not been entertained by the government. In spring 2024, the government established a task force that is set to assist authorities in curbing online gambling. Its first meeting was held on June 19th.
Authorities setting their sights on payment providers is the latest measure aimed at tackling illegal gambling. August also saw the banning of the search engine DuckDuckGo, which is known for facilitating anonymous browsing and thus used to allow Indonesian netizens to search for and use remote gambling websites without being detected. Usman Kansong of Kominfo spoke with Reuters regarding the matter and explained that DuckDuckGo had been targeted thanks to complaints.
In another effort to discourage gambling, President Joko Widodo announced last month that recently announced social aid services will not be provided to individuals who suffer from addiction due to online gambling. As gamblers “are considered criminals,” he stressed, aid would strictly be reserved for bettors’ families.
