Massive Promotion Makes Eradication Of Online Gambling Difficult, Perpetrators Can Be Penalized For 6 Years In Prison

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Officials from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights assess that the massive promotion of online gambling on social media and short message applications makes it difficult for officials to eradicate online gambling sites on the internet.

"Many parties have difficulty blocking online gambling sites because the promotion is massive and very easy," said Head of Public Relations of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Tubagus Erif Faturahman, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, July 5.

In fact, he said, educational and government sites were also the main targets for online gambling promotion because they were often accessed by the general public to seek information on public services.

"We can also infiltrate sites belonging to government institutions," added Tubagus Erif.

According to him, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) can ensnare perpetrators and people who distribute gambling content with a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and/or a maximum fine of IDR 1 billion.

"Yes, anything that is disseminated through any platform, internet, WhatsApp application, can be subject to legal action," said Tubagus Erif.

In addition, according to Erif, users can demand accountability from the Electronic System Operator (PSE) when a data breach occurs.

Previously, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) Dedy Permadi revealed various obstacles to eradicating online gambling sites.

The first technical obstacle is that online gambling platforms often come with a slightly different name or form of game from the previous game, which has been cut off from access by the Ministry of Communication and Information.

Gambling practices that are regulated differently in other countries make cracking cross-border platforms a second technical challenge.

Meanwhile, the non-technical obstacle encountered by the Ministry of Communication and Information was that gambling activities were detected on platforms that did not specifically display gambling or invite several parties to bet.

Dedy also said that offering online gambling slots through the WhatsApp messaging application was also another challenge because the content was private, while the monitoring capabilities carried out by the Ministry of Communication and Information were limited to public content.

Based on data collected from 2018 to July 4, 2022, the Ministry of Communication and Information has cut off access to 525,532 gambling content on various digital platforms.