Access blocked to over 800,000 items of online gambling content

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) Minister Budi Arie Setiadi stated that his ministry has cut off access to more than 800 thousand items of online gambling content from July to December 2023."This achievement is equivalent to the accumulation of (efforts focused on) online gambling content blocking that had been carried out over the previous five years," he stated at the office of the Kominfo Ministry, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.According to data from the ministry's Directorate General of Informatics Application, from July 17 to December 30, some 805,293 items of online gambling content had been handled.The ministry cut off access to 596,348 items of content on sites and IP addresses, 173,134 on Meta platforms, 29,257 on file-sharing platforms, 5,993 on Google and YouTube platforms, 367 on X, 170 on Telegram, 15 on TikTok, eight in the App Store, and one in SnackVideo.In addition to online gambling content, the ministry stated that it had blocked more than five thousand bank accounts and e-wallet accounts that are suspected of being used for online gambling activities.Setiadi noted that the Kominfo Ministry has cooperated with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to block those bank accounts."Kominfo is collaborating with various stakeholders in eradicating online gambling. We are cooperating with the OJK, telecommunication, internet, and digital platform service providers," he remarked.Setiadi said he had urged internet service providers and mobile operators to boost efforts to eliminate online gambling by ensuring the accuracy of system synchronization in the database of sites that contain online gambling content.The minister also gave a strong warning to technology giant Meta, as a lot of online gambling content is still found on the platforms."This warning requires Meta to immediately improve its handling of content and advertisements with online gambling content on the platforms it manages within 24 hours," he stressed.Setiadi said Meta's steps in handling content and advertisements on online gambling show how important it is for all parties to be involved to eradicate online gambling.