Indonesia orders cut on internet lines for online gambling sites

The government asked NAP providers to cut off access to internet lines from Cambodia and the Philippines.

Indonesia.- The Indonesian government has asked network access point (NAP) service providers to cut off access to internet lines from Cambodia and the Philippines used for online gambling. The request was made by Budi Arie Setiadi, minister of communications and information technology in a letter sent on Friday. He gave NAP providers three days to comply.

The minister asked NAP providers to inform the government of the measures they take as well as the impact.

Last week Hadi Tjahjanto, Indonesia’s chief security minister, announced the work of the country’s newly created task force to tackle online gambling. He said there will be three main lines of action: freezing accounts, cracking down on the buying and selling of accounts, and cracking down on online gambling transactions via top-ups at minimarkets.

Also last week Indonesia’s financial intelligence agency, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), announced that it had blocked approximately 5,000 bank accounts linked to online gambling operations. The accounts are believed to have facilitated the transfer of IDR5tn (US$305m) to at least 20 countries.