Indonesia's New Government Uses AI to Combat Online Gambling
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Loading... - Bojing Liu
- 10 Dec 2024
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Indonesia has taken a step in its efforts to eradicate online gambling by blocking 380,000 illegal gambling sites in October. The country's new government, led by President Pabrowo Subianto, has made it a priority to eliminate online gambling, which is strictly forbidden in the world's largest Muslim country.
Following the October election, the former Ministry of Communication and Informatics was rebranded as the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, with Meutya Hafid at its helm. Hafid announced a 100-day agenda with four key goals: safeguarding personal data, digitizing government services, eradicating online gambling, and creating a more child-friendly internet.
The ministry is utilizing artificial intelligence to detect and block illegal gambling content. Hafid confirmed that the number of closed sites has reached around 380,000, including 300,000 illegal IP addresses and thousands of ads on internet platforms like Meta, Google, and Twitter. The government has also established "special cyber-patrols" to detect sites and applications that contain gambling content.
Juda Agung, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, emphasized that payment service providers, including banks and non-banks, must have fraud detection systems to identify accounts used for online gambling.
Despite being illegal, online gambling remains a significant problem in Indonesia. According to ABC Asia, gamblers lost RP327 trillion (£16.2 billion/€19.5 billion/$20.5 billion) in 2023, equivalent to 1.5% of the country's annual gross domestic product. This year, online gambling has generated RP283 trillion, with deposits totaling RP43 trillion. Most of this money flows out of the country.
Community empowerment minister Muhaimin Iskandar described online gambling as a "social disaster," stating that gamblers are "victims of online fraud." He warned that if online gambling is not addressed, it will increase the poverty rate. Education minister Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro added that about 960,000 online gamblers in the country are high-school and college students, and an estimated 80,000 are under the age of 10.
The government is adopting a dual approach to eliminate online gambling. The first involves digital scrutiny of internet traffic and financial transactions, while the second focuses on increasing awareness and digital literacy among Indonesians. Iskander emphasized the need to educate the community about the dangers of online gambling, particularly among the grassroots community.
