INDONESIA TO REVOKE PERMITS OF NON-COMPLIANT ISPS IN CRACKDOWN ON ONLINE GAMBLING

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, May 24 (Bernama) — The Indonesian Communication and Information Ministry (Kominfo) is planning to revoke permits of internet network service providers (ISPs) that refuse to cooperate in the country’s efforts to combat online gambling.

Minister Budi Arie Setiadi on Friday urged ISPs to automatically synchronise with updates to the list of negative content, which includes online gambling, in the Trust Positive Kominfo domain name system (DNS).

“Currently, only 35 per cent of the total 1,011 ISPs have completed automatic synchronisation. Those found non-compliant will face public announcement of their status,” he said during a virtual press conference.

He highlighted concerning results from field tests conducted between 2023 and to date, revealing that out of the 136 samples, 26 still had access to negative content, including online gambling and pornography.

In response, the ministry has implemented administrative sanctions, Budi Arie said, adding that initial warnings were issued to 26 ISPs, with secondary warnings directed at three others.

Digital platforms, such as X, Telegram, Google, Meta, and TikTok, will also face fines of 500 million rupiah (US$31,128) if they continue to permit the spread of online gambling content on their platforms.

Kominfo identified 20,241 keywords related to online gambling in Google from Nov 7, 2023, to May 22, 2024, and 2,702 keywords in Meta from Dec 15, 2022, to May 22, 2024.

“The top 10 keywords related to online gambling in the last week are live slot, RTP slot, slot sites, hot slots, pragmatic slot, online casino, lottery, slot bonuses, and CQ9,” Budi Arie added.

Indonesia has formed a task force to address online gambling, with President Joko Widodo leading discussions on the matter in a recent Cabinet Meeting.

— BERNAMA

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