Three Indonesian ministries – Social Affairs, Religious Affairs, and Communications and IT – are working together to ban all forms of online gambling in Indonesia, including even websites offering door prizes or free lotteries.
The Communications and IT ministry will block any gambling websites selected by the Social Affairs Ministry, while the Religious Affairs ministry together with Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) will assess license requests to operate free lotteries, which account for up to 8,000 licenses issued by the ministry every year. The ministry said that there are some misuses of such lottery licenses issued so as to provide online gambling instead.
Indonesia’s fight against online gambling has been underway for two years now, with a “small number” of websites having been banned. That’s according to Ashwin Sasongko, the Ministry’s informatics applications chief, during a discussion on online gambling, as reported by the Jakarta Post.
The fight against online gambling is quite common in Asia as seen from the numerous busts that were made especially during the recent Euro 2012. But I guess as Indonesians grow more web-savvy over the next few years, surely they will find a way around to access the blocked sites. But for now, if the government’s effort to block online gambling sites is as swift as they did with blocking the porn sites, then I’d say that this move would be quite effective to block online gambling access for the next few years.
[Source: Jakarta Post; Image source: livegamblingreview.co.uk]
Are you being sarcastic ? we all know that government efforts is just a joke, gambling is everywhere in indonesia and all the big boss are living in other country so they cannot catch them. Payment can be using outside banks or even paypal. Even game like Zynga’s Poker is used for real money gambling. Not only online in the real world of gambling is everywhere in Indonesia.
Preventing gambling is just useless, it’s way of life even stock market in its core are gambling. The only solution is accept it as part of social and stop wasting money on efforts that doesn’t have any real effect.
Hi Lukman,
Thank you for the good post.
This is informative.
Would you happen to know the source for this article?
Otherwise, do you know what is considered [Online Gambling]?
e.g. how is Zynga not classified as online gambling? or if there is any other games that has an element of gambling, would that be in the list of banning as well?
Good point mumei – there are elements of games that are considered gambling to some people. the whole theory of gamification too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification
in fact life is also a gamble. every step we take in life is a risk. the line isn’t clear. but online sites that promote sports betting surely are consider gambling sites.
Personally for me, i don’t see zynga as gambling