Indonesian authorities freeze 600 billion in online gambling fight

Authorities in Indonesia have struck out against those gambling online. The 5000 accounts make up 600 billion Indonesian Rupiah ($36.5 million), with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) playing a crucial role in the freeze.

President Joko Widodo originally took a stance against online gambling, or iGaming, and began cracking down on it. Reasons cited include the usual protections from gambling addiction, as well as trying to curtail other potential pitfalls.

This plight has been taken up again by the current president, Prabowo Subianto, who earlier this year said that it’d take cooperation with other countries. His administration has seen the removal of nearly a million pieces of online gambling content, as well as blocks on IP addresses, websites, and social media.

As reported in the Jakarta Globe, an Indonesian outlet, PPATK’s head, Ivan Yustiavandana, said:

“We have frozen those accounts since February, and the National Police have followed up by blocking them.

“The core objective of this law enforcement initiative is to protect the public from the social harms of online gambling, which often drives victims to drug trafficking, online fraud, and even prostitution in order to sustain their addiction. It can also lead to the breakdown of families.”

Part of the fight is to curb trafficking and forced labor cases, which have been on the rise since 2020.

Despite the government’s best efforts, the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that it’s noticed an uptick in people entering the gambling industry abroad. According to reports, this is done through scams, and Indonesians can find themselves in what is effectively slave labor.

Jakarta reports that “more than 5000 Indonesians” have had to be saved from these scams. The offer of lucrative jobs within casinos and the like often stems from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Reports out of Thailand have also shown that some end up trafficked.

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