Indonesia blocks almost 900,000 online gambling content over five years

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government has blocked access to 886,719 pieces of online gambling content over a period of five years since July 2018, with an expert noting that regulating rather than banning such sites would be more effective. 

“On average, we terminate access to 1,500 to 2,000 sites and dozens of applications daily, including gaming applications related to online gambling, similar to Higgs Domino Island," said Minister of Communications and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi on Tuesday (August 8), according to CNN Indonesia. 

Higgs Domino Island is one of the gambling apps blocked by the Indonesian government. According to the Google Play Store, the app has been downloaded 50 million times. 

Gambling is prohibited in Indonesia, with a threat of imprisonment and fines for players and organisers. 

Mr Setiadi noted that as of Monday, some 42,622 online gambling content have been blocked since he was appointed to his position on Jul 17. 

He also pointed out that such online gambling sites receive massive monetary gains. 

"According to the reports and data we got, one site called Higgs Domino Island can even reach a turnover of 2.2 trillion rupiah per month, or the equivalent of US$150 million. 

“(This means that) in a year, (their earnings) can reach around 27 trillion rupiah and (this is for) only one site," Mr Setiadi was quoted as saying by Kontan. 

He added that poor people and even children are victims of such gambling sites. 

"Imagine that for a day of slot gambling, 30,000 rupiah (is spent). (In a month), 900,000 rupiah (is spent) and the victims even include small children. So the people are very disadvantaged," he reportedly said.