Kominfo Reveals The Possibility Of Blocking Online Gambling Access From Countries Apart From Cambodia And The Philippines

Director General of Information and Public Communication Usman Kansong (photo: Dinda Buana/VOI)

JAKARTA - The government has blocked internet access from Cambodia and the Philippines to Indonesia as a form of the government's commitment to eradicating online gambling in the country.

The blocking of access in these two countries was carried out because according to the Ministry of Communication and Information is because Cambodia and the Philippines are the countries with the most online gambling participants.

Regarding the possibility of blocking online gambling access in more countries, the Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics Usman Kansong, said the government was still monitoring these developments.

"Of course we will see developments, but indeed we consider the two countries to be the countries with the most content or online gambling sites to infiltrate our country, so we close access from the two countries," said Usman some time ago.

Nevertheless, Usman believes that online gambling practices will definitely take place in many other countries. However, for blocking, the government still needs to see the urgency first.

"Meanwhile, other countries certainly exist, because the airports then the servers are also in other ASEAN countries, but we will see first how their needs are, their urgency, and their interests," added Usman.

According to the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi, the steps taken by the government through the online gambling eradication task force have succeeded in suppressing online gambling transactions in Indonesia by around 50 percent.

"According to data from the PPATK (Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center) in 2024, the Task Force's intervention has succeeded in reducing 50 percent of public access to online gambling and reducing a total of IDR 34.49 trillion in public deposits on online gambling sites," Budi said on Thursday, July 25.