TLDR Indonesia has blocked 3.7 million online gambling sites and pieces of content since October 2024. The Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs identified 156,000 suspected gambling accounts through public reports. Authorities flagged 85,500 mobile phone numbers linked to suspected fraud activity. About 38,000 bank accounts are suspected of ties to online gambling, with 32,500 already closed. The ministry is shifting from reactive takedowns to pattern-based detection and faster data sharing between agencies.
Indonesia’s government has removed 3.7 million online gambling sites and related content since October 2024. The number was shared by Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid on Tuesday.
Hafid spoke after a banking forum in Jakarta. Her comments were reported by the country’s official news agency, ANTARA.
The removals cover websites and digital content tied to suspected illegal gambling. The campaign has been running for close to two years.
Public Reports Drive Detection
The ministry also runs an online platform where people can report suspected gambling activity. Through this system, officials identified 156,000 suspected gambling accounts.
Authorities also flagged 85,500 mobile phone numbers. These numbers were reported as suspected tools for fraud linked to gambling operations.
The scale of these numbers shows how much the public reporting system has grown. It now plays a large role in how the ministry finds new targets.
Hafid said tackling online gambling needs cooperation across several groups. This includes her ministry, other government agencies, banks, and the Financial Services Authority.
She said the ministry wants to move away from simply reacting to gambling sites after they appear. Instead, it wants to spot patterns early using anomaly detection tools.
Data sharing is also being sped up. Information now moves faster between the online reporting platform and mobile identity authorities.
Bank Accounts Face Closure
The crackdown extends beyond