Indonesia blocks 3.7 million online gambling sites since Oct 2024

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Ministry of Communications and Digital has blocked 3.7 million websites and online content linked to illegal gambling since Oct. 20, 2024, while thousands of bank accounts have been shut as authorities intensify enforcement.

"During that period, the ministry took down 3.7 million websites and pieces of content," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said on Tuesday.

Public participation has supported the crackdown, with 156,000 suspected online gambling accounts reported through the cekrekening.id portal, she said.

The ministry has also received reports involving 85,500 mobile phone numbers suspected of being used in fraudulent activities.

Hafid said combating online gambling requires close coordination among government agencies, financial regulators and banks, including the Communications and Digital Ministry and the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

She stressed the need for stronger data integration to speed the transfer of information from the ministry to relevant authorities.

"We are shifting from reactive takedowns to pattern-based anomaly detection while accelerating data sharing through integrated systems, including faster transfers from cekrekening.id to mobile identity authorities," Hafid said.

In addition to blocking online gambling content, the ministry has reported about 38,000 suspected bank accounts linked to online gambling to the OJK.

Of those accounts, 32,500 have been closed, representing an 85.5 percent closure rate.

"We have reported about 38,000 bank accounts to the OJK, and 32,500 have been closed. We hope to increase that number with continued support from the banking industry," Hafid said.

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Translator: Farhan Arda N, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Editor: Rahmad Nasution

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