Blak-blakan Sebut Telegram Masih Fasilitasi Judi Online, Menkominfo: Akan Kami Tutup!

Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi (ANTARA / Yashinta Difa)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi said that the Telegram social media platform still has the courage to facilitate online gambling practices. In fact, the government is intensively eradicating online gambling in Indonesia because it has proven to be detrimental to the community. "I'll just say it's here. It's just Telegram that is not cooperative (to eradicate online gambling). Friends have recorded it. Only telegram is not cooperative. Media platforms are not cooperative with Telegram at all," Budi Arie said in a virtual press conference, Friday, May 24. Budi Arie admitted that the government still provides opportunities for digital platform managers to participate in eradicating online gambling in Indonesia. He also gave an ultimatum to Google, Meta (Facebook and WhatsApp), X, Telegram, and TikTok to cooperate by removing online gambling promotion content on their platforms. Otherwise, they will have to pay a fine in fantastic terms. "If you are not cooperative in eradicating online gambling on your platform, then I will impose a fine of up to IDR 500 million per content," explained Budi Arie. So far, Budi Arie revealed that the majority of digital media platforms have begun to cooperate in eradicating online gambling. One of them is Google. Next week, Kominfo will discuss implementing online gambling tracking with Google with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Meanwhile, currently Telegram is still letting online gamblers play on their platform. "Now there is a trend for online gambling players to play on Telegram. That's why I warned the Telegram platform, if we don't want to cooperate in eradicating online gambling, we will definitely close it," he said. On that occasion, Budi Arie said that Kominfo had blocked or taken down 1,918,520 content containing online gambling from July 17, 2023 to May 22, 2024. Then, Kominfo has also submitted the closure of 555 e-wallet accounts related to online gambling to Bank Indonesia during the period October to May 22, 2024. Then, blocking 5,364 bank accounts related to online gambling to OJK from 17 September 2023 to 22 May 2024. Kominfo has also taken down 18,877 gambling pages on educational sites, and 22,714 gambling pages on government websites from 2023 to 22 May 2024.

Also, keyword updates related to online videos to facilitate content patrols, namely 20,241 keywoards to Google from 7 November 2023 to 22 May 2024, and 2,702 keywords to Meta from 15 December 2022 to 22 May 2024.