Indonesia urges Telegram to crack down on online gambling content

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Communication and Informatics urged the messaging service Telegram to put a halt to the spread of online gambling-related content on its platform.

Director General of Informatics Applications Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan stated that the ministry had sent a second letter to Telegram and sought a response within a week.

“We have summoned Telegram and sent a follow-up letter. We identified around 600 pieces of gambling content requiring action. They have one week to respond,” he remarked on Friday.

He explained that the ministry would send three letters to Telegram. If there’s no response after the third letter, the platform will be blocked.

A week’s gap would be kept between the second and third letters, he added.

Through such a firm step, Pangerapan said that the ministry is optimistic about cleaning up online gambling advertisement content from the Telegram platform and ensuring it complies with Indonesian regulations.

Meanwhile, Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi stated that the government will fine digital platforms found to be allowing the distribution of online gambling content.

“If you are not cooperative in eradicating online gambling on your platform, then I will impose a fine of up to Rp500 million (around US$30,327) per item of content,” he stated in an online press conference on Friday.

Based on monitoring, several items of content with keywords related to online gambling were still present on digital platforms, he noted.

According to the minister, 20,241 items of online gambling-related content were found on Google search results from November 7, 2023, to May 22.

There were also findings of 2,702 items of similar content on Meta social platforms from December 15, 2023, to May 22.

The ministry has removed 1,918,520 items of online gambling-related content from July 17, 2023, to May 22.

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