House of Representatives Chairman Promotes Sustainable Digital Literacy National Movement After 200 Thousand Children Exposed to Judol

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani/DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - House of Representatives (DPR) Chairwoman Puan Maharani encourages a sustainable national digital literacy movement after 200 thousand Indonesian children are exposed to judol or online gambling.

He also assessed that the condition was very worrying and intervention was needed to overcome the phenomenon of children being exposed to judol.

"The phenomenon of online gambling in Indonesia today is entering a phase that is much more worrying. If previously this practice was identical to adults, now children are the most vulnerable victims," said Puan Maharani, Friday, May 22.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital previously revealed that almost 200 thousand Indonesian children had been exposed to online gambling, where 40 percent or 80 thousand children exposed to online gambling were under 10 years old. According to Puan, this data should not be seen as just a normal statistical figure.

"This is a social alarm that shows that there is a crisis of child protection in the digital space," said Puan.

In the midst of rapid technological development, Puan assessed that Indonesian children are now growing in a digital ecosystem that is almost without safety fences. Gawai which should be a means of learning and creativity has turned into an entry point for veiled gambling practices.

Ironically, many children are not even aware that they are being directed to digital gambling mechanisms through online games, hidden ads, social media links, and applications that disguise the betting system as an entertainment game.

"Often children get lost in online gambling because they don't know. This condition shows that we are not only facing digital crime, but also about the lack of national digital literacy development," said Puan.

Therefore, Puan supports the steps of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) which includes the material of the dangers of online gambling in the School Environment Introduction Period (MPLS) in the form of counseling on the dangers of online gambling so that students are not involved in the world of gambling. However, according to him, this effort must be expanded into a systematic and sustainable national digital literacy movement. Of course this must involve cross-institutions from various related sectors.

"It is also important to have a special program related to the protection of children's character and mental health in the digital era," said the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

"Then the child's social environment also needs to take a role. Both the social environment around the house, their social environment, and the environment of other activities of children who need to provide supervision," added Puan.

Puan said that child protection regulations in the digital space have indeed been present, such as Government Regulation (PP) Number 17 of 2025 concerning the Governance of the Implementation of Electronic Systems in the Protection of Children or PP Tunas.

"However, we encourage that child protection regulations in the digital space be carried out more progressively. Starting from the prevention side to sanctions for service providers who allow online gambling promotions must be further strengthened," he said.

In addition, Puan asked for a thorough audit of the effectiveness of the online gambling site blocking system that has been carried out by the Government. Because the reality on the ground shows that new sites continue to emerge with patterns that are increasingly difficult to track.

"The state must not lose quickly compared to the massive and transnational digital gambling network," concluded Puan.