The Government Will Soon Form An Integrated Task Force To Eradicate Online Gambling

JAKARTA - The government in the next week will form an integrated task force (task force) to eradicate online gambling.

According to the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi, the formation of the task force aims to solve the online gambling problem more thoroughly by sharpening coordination among the ministries/agencies involved.

"Judi is illegal by law, so strengthening the steps (of eradication) needs to be carried out effectively," said Budi, after attending an internal meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo regarding the emergency Indonesia online gambling at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Thursday, April 18.

In this case, he said, the Ministry of Communication and Information will focus on attracting and removing (take down) online gambling sites while the enforcement aspect will be handed over to law enforcement officials.

Referring to data from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the total circulation of money from online gambling throughout 2023 reached IDR 327 trillion.

Budi said that the findings were very disturbing, especially since many reports were received by the government that online gambling players were small communities.

"This year, I have said that there were four people committing suicide due to online gambling. Therefore, this country must be serious. In the next week there will be dramatic steps taken. If necessary, just arrest the bookies," he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Mahendra Siregar revealed that from the end of 2023 to March 2024, the OJK had blocked around 5,000 accounts used related to online gambling activities.

However, he assessed that removing sites and blocking accounts alone were not enough to actually eradicate online gambling practices, which are transnational issues.

"There is something not done domestically, but cross-border (state). There is also something he does not go through a bank account. Therefore, the layer after layer of eradication must be resolved so that no empty space' continues to occur, because the basic problem is that we see it has not been completely resolved," said Mahendra.