Indonesian crackdown on internet gambling planned

The Indonesian government is planning a three-pronged attack on illegal internet gambling, according to reports Tuesday in the Jakarta Post newspaper, which reveals that three different ministries are to collaborate in the initiative.

The Communications and Information Technology Ministry will block local users from accessing online gambling websites, Ashwin Sasongko, the ministry’s informatics applications chief, said Tuesday. The Social Affairs Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry were also involved in the push, he said.

“We will ask the Social Affairs Ministry to assess whether the services provided are indeed online gambling or merely online games. Should that ministry decide that something is an online gambling website, we will ban the URL,” Ashwin said, adding that websites offering door prizes or free lotteries would also be blocked.

Andi ZA Dulung, the Social Affairs Ministry’s social protection and security chief, said that that the ministry, the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Indonesia Ulema Council would assess licence requests to operate free lotteries.

The Social Affairs Ministry issued 8,000 such licenses a year, Andi said, but cautioned: “Some misuse the licenses to provide online gambling instead.”

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