Government Successfully Takes Down 2 Million Online Gambling Sites, Focuses on Education and Child Protection
Jakarta — The government through the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi) continues to demonstrate its commitment to eradicating online gambling practices. As of mid-June 2025, two million online gambling sites have been successfully removed from Indonesia’s digital space.
“As of today, we have taken down two million online gambling sites. However, these sites can create new ones, even automatically,” said the Minister of Communication and Digital, Meutya Hafid
Although the number of sites that have been successfully blocked is quite large, Meutya emphasized that the step of cutting off access is not the only solution. The government emphasizes the importance of educating the public to fight online gambling practices that continue to grow.
“The most important strategy that is currently being focused on is strengthening education for the public so that they can fight online gambling practices together,” she said.
According to Meutya, the online gambling industry will continue to grow as long as there is demand from the public. Therefore, collective awareness is needed from all elements of the nation so as not to provide space for these illegal businesses to grow.
“If the enthusiasts or consumers want to continue, then there will continue to be space for them to grow. So we must also fight,” he explained.
Furthermore, Meutya said that the government is also strengthening regulatory policies to reduce the growth rate of online gambling. One of them is through the implementation of the Ministerial Regulation on the Content Moderation Compliance System (SAMAN) and the Government Regulation on the Governance of the Implementation of Electronic Systems in Child Protection (PP TUNAS).
This step was taken because minors are quite vulnerable to being exposed to and caught up in Online Gambling activities. Data shows that the number of children under 18 years of age involved in this practice is quite high.
“So with the regulation limiting or delaying the age of access for children under 18 years of age to social media, we hope that it can also significantly reduce Online Gambling in Indonesia, while also making our digital realm better,” he explained.
This massive effort shows the government’s seriousness in protecting the younger generation from the negative impacts of Online Gambling which are increasingly rampant. Collaboration between regulation, education, and technology is expected to be a strong foundation towards a healthy and safe digital ecosystem.*
[edRW]
