Indonesia faces deadly toll of online gambling addiction, intensifies crackdown efforts

several disturbing murder cases linked to online gambling throughout Indonesia, Indonesian president Joko Widodo has declared a renewed effort to combat gambling.

Gambling is illegal in Indonesia, with participants and organisers facing up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of 25 million rupiah (RM7,187.12) with distributors of online gambling software can be imprisoned for up to six years and fined up to 1 billion rupiah (RM287,485).

Jokowi, who is set to hand over power to president-elect Prabowo Subianto in October this year, recently urged Indonesians to refrain from engaging in any form of gambling, as reported by South China Morning Post.

“Don’t gamble, both offline and online. It is better if you have good fortune, you have money, you save it or use it as business capital,“ he said in a video posted on his social media accounts.

However, Jokowi admitted curbing online gambling is difficult due to its “cross-border nature” and called on public figures and religious leaders to “monitor each other and report any indications of online gambling”, despite the government having established a multi-agency task force in collaboration with Interpol to crack down on online gambling last month.

Earlier this month, a policewoman burned her police officer husband alive due to his spending their bonus on online gambling instead of essentials for their three-month-old twins in East Java, while in December 2023, a member of the national police counter-terrorism squad received a life sentence for murdering a driver to steal his car, financed by money meant for a used car purchase, which was spent on online gambling.

Meanwhile over at the province of Papua, a navy member committed suicide in April, owing the bank and friends 819 million rupiah (RM235,450.21) in gambling debts.

The Indonesian Armed Forces also vowed strict action against personnel involved in online gambling after an army officer in South Sulawesi embezzled 876 million rupiah (RM251,836.86) from his unit to fund his addiction.

Online gambling has now become one of the top five reasons for divorce in Indonesia since 2020, with data showing the economic toll to be massive.

The Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre estimated online gamblers spent 327 trillion rupiah (RM94 billion) in 2023, triple the 2022 amount.

Jakarta’s Center of Economic and Law Studies digital economy director Nailul Huda said online gambling actually drains money with little economic benefit.

“This money even goes to other countries, such as Myanmar or Cambodia. When it is used for the real sector, for shopping or for opening a business, the effect is greater,“ she was quoted as saying.

She continues by criticising social media platforms for allowing online gambling ads, often by influencers.

According to a report in February by online survey platform Populix, nearly half of around 1,000 respondents reported being exposed to online gambling advertisements on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Adding to that, from July 17, 2023, to May 21, Indonesia’s Communications Ministry has blocked over 1.9 million pieces of online content promoting gambling, with over 5,000 bank accounts and e-wallets suspected of facilitating online gambling activities were also targeted.

However, while shutting down one site often leads to the emergence of many others, Nailul said allowing online gambling to spread unchecked is unacceptable.

“The government must tell the platforms that online gambling is illegal in Indonesia. So when they allow it to spread, they indirectly violate the rules in Indonesia,” she was quoted as saying.