X Has Decided Access To Online Gambling Promotions, Minister Of Communication And Information: Like School Children, Gradually Sentences If There Are More

Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Central Jakarta, Friday (18/1/2024). (ANTARA/Livia Kristianti)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi explained the steps to be taken if content related to online gambling promotions was found on platform X (twitter). According to him, after sending the first warning letter, X immediately followed up on the content and had cut off his access. "Well, if two or three times (discovered again) there are stages. It's like a school child, there's a penalty for one warning, two warnings," said Budi at the Ministry of Communication and Information Office, Central Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Friday, January 19. Furthermore, Budi said that if the warnings were not heeded, his party would take firm action against the platform. The mechanism also applies to other platforms that if found promote online gambling content. "Surely we will take firm action if they still ignore what is our concern (handling online gambling). This applies to all (digital) platforms without exception," said Budi. On Thursday (18/1), the Director General of Informatics Applications at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Dirjen Aptika Kemenkominfo) Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan confirmed that social media platform X had removed online gambling advertising content that had disturbed the public some time ago. "It's been taken down. It's their failure (platform X)," said Semuel in Jakarta. Semuel said the mode of spreading online gambling advertisements on X initially tricked Elon Musk's platform by admitting to marketing other content and not online gambling. With the form of paid premium accounts with a blue tick, the online gambling advertisement spreader also launched his action. Even so, after being reprimanded by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics regarding netizen reports regarding suspicious accounts promoting online gambling, platform X immediately handled the report. Online gambling management is one of the priorities carried out by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics since the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi was sworn in in mid-2023. It was recorded that from July to December 2023, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics had taken down 810,785 content related to online gambling. The amount of content handled in one semester is almost four times more than the amount of online gambling content that has been cut off or taken down throughout 2022.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has also blocked 4,164 accounts and 540 digital wallet accounts related to online gambling activities throughout the second half of 2023.