Teenagers and young adults with their eyes glued to their smartphone screens is nothing unusual for those living in Indonesia, especially in big cities like the capital Jakarta.
However, it's becoming a lot more common for many of them to be engrossed with their phones, not to browse the web or to scroll their social media feed, but to play at online gambling sites and apps.
Many of those people started gambling as curiosity. But sooner than later, their curiosity becomes a habit, and later becomes an addiction they cannot get rid of.
Online gambling has become an alarming issue that according an official, endangers the younger generation of the nation.
In fact, the official even added that Indonesia is considered to be in a state of emergency due to online gambling.
Following COVID-19 pandemic, after mass unemployment, many people hope to gain something more amidst their increasing financial constraints.
As a result, money that should have been used for buying food and milk for children, is diverted to top up their online gambling accounts.
What's even more concerning is that many housewives are also involved in online gambling. From the comfort of their homes, women use their smartphones to play online slot machines, poker and more. And not just that, because there are also quite a few elementary school children who are engaged in online gambling.
This is a worrisome situation for all parties involved.
Quoted from the Tempo newspaper, Narji— not his real name—still remembers how he began to fall into online gambling in 2015.
At that time, he was in the second year of high school and lived in a dormitory in Tasikmalaya, West Java. Initially, he tried poker, which he had learned about on Facebook. In the beginning, he often won. He became addicted and felt like he understood how to play.
However, those victories didn't last forever. Fortune turned to misfortune. Narji suffered loss after loss. His money disappeared, to the point of using up his school fees and dormitory payments. In the end, his parents had to step in and pay off all of Narji's debts. He swore off gambling, but only temporarily. When he went to college in Bandung in 2017, he fell back into the addiction of playing online gambling.
The pattern was the same: win, get addicted, lose, lose, and lose.
Narji even had to borrow money from online lending companies. He said, "Dig one hole, cover another. Get a loan, play again."
Eventually, Narji had nothing left to repay his debts. As a journalism major student, he went so far as to pawn his friend's camera. He used the money to repay his online loans, and then resumed playing online gambling.
As you can imagine, Narji lost again.
To redeem his friend's camera at the pawnshop, he borrowed another camera from another friend to pawn it. This cycle continued until several of his friends confronted him to demand their cameras back. In the end, Narji's parents had to step in once again to pay off their son's debts. The consequence was that he had to drop out of college.
And making things worse, online gambling addiction has led to several suicides in Indonesia.
Many of those who were depressed, were distressed because of their mounting debt. Online gambling is also tied to depression because people are being trapped into the addiction they cannot quit.
At least, that's what the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Budi Arie Setiadi, has stated.
He mentioned that an online gambling emergency is currently affecting Indonesia.
This is disheartening, because according to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), it's said that the turnover of money in gambling, both online and traditional, has been steadily increasing year by year.
There was a significant increase in gambling turnover from 2021 to 2022, from Rp 57 trillion to Rp 81 trillion.
That's quite a staggering amount.
As for the government, they're not going to stay quiet about this.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has taken various measures, including blocking bank accounts involved in online gambling.
"The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has instructed banks to block accounts involved in online gambling. Previously, OJK received a letter from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) regarding the request to block several accounts.
"We welcome this form of cooperation between institutions to be further intensified in the future to assist in combating economic crimes carried out by utilizing bank accounts and the Indonesian payment system. Efforts to uphold the integrity of the banking system are the responsibility of all relevant parties," said Dian Ediana Rae, the Executive Head of Banking Supervision at OJK, as quoted in their official statement.
Furthermore, Dian also emphasized that OJK's cooperation with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and other institutions will continue to be enhanced to address issues that concern the public, which also include illegal online lending.
OJK stated that they will continue to carry out their supervisory functions by examining bank accounts that are misused for unlawful purposes.
The ministry also attempts to quickly block websites distributing online gambling content, as soon as they pop up.
During the period between July 17 to September 17, 2023, the ministry has handled over 100,000 slot gambling content, 92 fraudulent content, and 1,931 gambling accounts. In in the span of six years, the ministry has blocked about a million gambling websites and apps.
"From 2018 to July 19 2023, meaning yesterday, the Ministry of Communication and Information has carried out a takedown of 846,047 online gambling content," stressed Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi.
"Even in the last week, from 13 to 19 July 2023, the Ministry of Communication and Information has cut off access to 11,333 online gambling content," he said.
However, like the saying goes, "cut one down, a thousand spring up," online gambling sites continue to proliferate.
There are many factors that make online gambling difficult to eradicate.
From the tactics used by online gambling operators to exploit social media platforms to target individuals, especially those with limited financial resources, who hope to get rich quickly.
Then, there is the fact that the gambling platforms are endorsed by famous celebrities on social media platforms.
These influencers were clearly used to lure people into online gambling addiction.
The government has also reached Meta as the owner of both Facebook and Instagram, as well as Alphabet as the owner of both Google and YouTube, and also X.
According to the officials, these platform operators cannot hide behind the excuse that this is user-generated content, because in many cases, the gambling platforms use paid advertising to reach their intended audience.
“If content is on a site, Kominfo will immediately terminate access. For content on social media platforms, Kominfo will ask platform managers to remove gambling content. If the platform refuses to delete it, it will be subject to sanctions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations," the Minister said.
The Director General of Informatics Applications at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Semuel A. Pangerapan, stated that so far it is suspected that the distribution of online gambling content also comes from abroad.
Director General Semuel suspects that the online gambling sites that are currently spread are centered in countries that have legalized online gambling.
"But once they entered Indonesia, what the government did was cut off access. There are three steps, the first is the domain name or website. Second, if the IP is discovered, we will also cut off access. If it is an application, we will also cut off access to the application. To top it off, if there is an account that is being used, we will also block it, in order to narrow the space for them to carry out this illegal activity," he explained.
While the government may never be able to completely eradicate online gambling, the firmness of the government, a sense of caring, and responsibility from platform operators, as well as all parties involved in the online gambling industry, officials believe that online gambling could be minimized in the public domain.
By involving all sectors and elements of society to work together, the government is certain that they can create a safer and more beneficial digital era for Indonesia, especially for the younger generation.
Indonesia, the vast archipelago country in Southeast Asia, sees gambling as an illegal activity.
Both locals and foreigners are not allowed to be involved in all forms of gambling, from land-based casinos to online gambling. The Indonesian government takes a very strict stance on gambling, and those caught gambling can face severe penalties, including imprisonment.
Even the most reputable gambling establishments in Indonesia are operating illegally.
There are a few reasons why gambling is illegal in Indonesia.
First, the majority of Indonesians are Muslims, and Islam forbids gambling. Second, the Indonesian government believes that gambling can lead to social problems such as poverty, crime, and addiction.
Despite the ban, gambling is popular in Indonesia.
There are many illegal gambling establishments operating throughout the country. And because of the internet and social media, gambling is brought online, reaching even more people.
