Jakarta – The government, through the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Kemenko Polkam), is preparing regulations for the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and more effective blocking technology to address online gambling practices and other illegal content.
“We are targeting two outputs: effective blocking technology and VPN regulations,” said Syaiful Garyadi, Assistant Deputy for Data Protection and Electronic Transactions Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.
According to him, VPN services are often used to access illegal content, including online gambling and pornography, because there are currently no regulations governing their use. These regulations are expected to prevent the misuse of VPNs to access illegal content.
Syaiful explained that the Ministry of Communication and Digital currently blocks 5,000 to 9,000 pieces of illegal content each week. However, similar sites often reappear after the blocks are implemented.
“Komdigi’s friends are like firefighters, putting out fires but the source of the fire is never extinguished,” he said.
Therefore, the government is encouraging the use of more effective technology to block access to illegal content, so that efforts to eradicate online gambling and similar violations can be carried out more optimally.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Puan Maharani also addressed the rampant manipulative business practices that harm society at the Annual Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). Addressing President Prabowo Subianto, she assessed practices such as illegal mining, online gambling, drug trafficking, and smuggling as serious threats to the nation.
“We face a harsh reality: a small segment of society, despite all its advantages, is exploiting the people and natural resources through manipulative business practices,” Puan said.
He emphasized that the profits obtained by these manipulative business actors were far beyond what was reasonable.
“Their profits have exceeded the limits of civilization’s rationality,” he said.
The government hopes that the VPN regulations to be formulated will be an important instrument in eradicating online gambling, while also protecting the public from the negative impacts of illegal content in the digital space.*
