Illegal gambling in Indonesia: 11 digital ministry officials arrested
Those arrested were accused of allowing online gambling sites to operate illegally.
Indonesia.- The Jakarta Police have arrested 11 officials from the Communication and Digitalization Ministry for allegedly allowing online gambling operators to keep their websites operational despite a presidential order for an immediate shutdown. Wira Satya Triputra, director of the Jakarta Police’s General Crime Division, said they took bribes to allow approximately 20 per cent of the 5,000 gambling websites identified to continue operating.
Those arrested had reportedly been assigned to identify and shut down gambling sites and applications. The Jakarta Globe says that websites paid each official Rp 8.5m (US$540) to avoid enforcement. The suspects are said to include several specialist staff members.
Newly appointed communication minister Meutya Hafid has affirmed that her office supports the police investigation. She said: “The law must be applied strictly to anyone involved in the scandal without exception, particularly officials from our ministry.”
Gambling in Indonesia is illegal for both citizens and foreigners. In September, Budie Arie Setiadi, Indonesia’s communication and informatics minister, announced that between July 17, 2023 and September 17, 2024, the ministry removed 3,383,000 pieces of online gambling content. The ministry submitted 20,842 keywords related to online gambling to Google from November 7, 2023 to August 8, 2024 and 5,173 to Meta from December 15, 2023 to August 8, 2024.
The government has implemented a monitoring system using artificial intelligence to detect websites associated with online gambling. The ministry is also collaborating with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to stop the use of payment and banking systems for online gambling.
A week ago, Saifullah Yusuf, Indonesia’s social affairs minister, warned beneficiaries of social assistance not to use state aid for online gambling. He said aid was intended for food and education, including to reduce cases of stunted growth among children.
