The Government of Indonesia has increased the pressure on the epidemic of online gambling, which is “supported” by at least 8.8 million Indonesians and reported an illegal online gambling turnover of a whopping Rp 900 trillion (US$55 billion) in 2024 alone.
Under the Indonesian Criminal Code, gambling of all kinds is illegal in the country, and anyone caught participating in gambling or similar organized gambling events may end up in prison, facing a 10-year sentence and an additional fine of Rp 25 million.
Moreover, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE) also prohibits the distribution of online gambling content and software, with anyone found sharing gambling-related programs facing a prison sentence of up to six years.
However, despite the severe penalties, illegal online gambling websites still continue to thrive in Indonesia, with most of these sites often being advertised as online mobile games, thus circumventing the law and any potential law enforcement against them.
One of the last actions of former Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was forming a task force in June to battle online gambling, marking the first coordinated effort by the Indonesian government to eradicate these illegal gambling sites.
The forming of the task force was a result of following a report from the PPATK (Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center), which revealed that in June 2024, more than 1,000 members of regional and national legislatures participated in some form of online gambling.
This automatically debunked the perception that online gambling only affected lower and middle-class income earners.
One of the first actions of the task force was freezing the bank accounts used in the illegal gambling realm and taking down illegal gambling and any gambling-related advertising.
Ever since the inauguration of current President Prabowo Subianto, the country has continued its war on online gambling, labelling it a “serious threat” to the nation, and comparing the dangers to fraud and corruption.
During the past months, law enforcement agencies in Indonesia intensified their investigation against people in the upper echelon linked to online gambling, resulting in the arrest of 10 Communications and Digital Ministry employees who are accused of extorting money from thousands of online gambling operators in exchange for allowing them to operate in the country.
