Indonesia: ISPs told to collaborate against illegal online gambling

Kominfo says ISPs could lose their licences.

Indonesia.- Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) said in a statement that the country’s internet service providers (ISPs) could lose their licences if they do not cooperate to curb illegal online gambling. Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said only 35 per cent of Indonesia’s 1,011 ISPs had updated their lists of negative content.

Digital platforms such as X, Telegram, Google, Meta and TikTok have previously been threatened with fines of up to INR500m (USD31,000) if they allow online gambling content on their platforms. A week ago, Setiadi, announced that between July 17, 2023 and May 21, 2024, his ministry removed 1.9m pieces of online gambling content.

The ministry has asked the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia (BI) to block bank accounts and digital wallets linked to online gambling. The OJK has proposed blocking 5,364 bank accounts, and BI has proposed blocking 555 digital wallets.