Jakarta – Eradicating online gambling is one of the Government’s current focuses. The government has formed a task force (Task Force) with the main aim of eradicating gambling which has now spread to the online realm. Referring to Article 2 of Presidential Decree Number 21 of 2024 concerning the Task Force for Eradicating Online Gambling, this Task Force is under and directly responsible to President Jokowi.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reminded and asked the public not to gamble online or offline. President Jokowi has emphasized this many times. People should save instead of spending money on gambling, this money can be used as business capital.
“I want to say don’t gamble, don’t gamble, don’t gamble. Either offline or online. “It’s better, if you have good fortune, if you have money, you save it or use it as business capital,” said President Jokowi in Jakarta.
Likewise, the Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, stated that his party is intensifying education and outreach to the public regarding the dangers of online gambling which is increasingly rampant, by collaborating with various ministries, educational institutions, and broadcasting institutions operating in Indonesia.
“We will continue to carry out massive outreach and education at all levels, the Ministry of Religion is involved, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is also involved, we involve schools,” said Budi Arie.
Meanwhile, Founder of the Center For Financial and Digital Literacy, Rahman Mangussara, said that his party really appreciates the government which has formed a task force (Task Force) to eradicate online gambling to protect the public.
“The task force to eradicate online gambling, as stated by the Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi, should be appreciated by the public,” he said.
For your information, the formation of the Online Gambling Task Force is contained in Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 21 of 2024 concerning the Online Gambling Eradication Task Force which takes effect June 14 2024. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Hadi Tjahjanto was appointed as head of the task force . In the task force there are also members in the prevention sector consisting of a number of related stakeholders, namely the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Ministry of Religion, Attorney General’s Office, TNI, Polri, and the Financial Services Authority (OJK).
Meanwhile, the number of victims due to online gambling from 2023 until now has recorded 14 cases of suicide and attempted suicide triggered by online gambling. Each of the 10 cases occurred in 2023 and 4 cases occurred between January 2024 and April 2024.
One of the reported suicide victims was a man from North Semarang, Semarang City, who was determined to end his life by hanging himself. The 32 year old victim also pawned his house certificate for online gambling before hanging himself. Meanwhile, a 50 year old mother can no longer stand the pressure caused by her child playing online gambling.
The fact that those who committed suicide were mostly aged between 19 years and 30 years gives an idea of how this gambling has damaged the family and how serious the problems caused by online gambling are. [*]
