The Ministry of Communication and Information explained the continuation of communication with Telegram because of gambling

Jakarta (MidLand) – Deputy Minister of Communication and Information (Wamenkominfo) Nezar Patria explained that the continuation of communication with the instant messaging platform Telegram was a follow-up action to ask the platform to cooperate in closing access to online gambling content on its services.

According to him, currently the Ministry of Communications and Information has sent a third warning letter and is still waiting for a response from the relevant parties and if it is not heard, the Ministry of Communications and Information will block access to the application.

“If you don’t comply, you will be blocked. If you comply, why should you be blocked,” Nezar said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to Nezar, in terms of supervision of electronic system operators (PSEs), his party consistently follows applicable laws and regulations.

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If a platform is detected that stubbornly does not follow Indonesian rules, the platform must be managed according to applicable regulations.

In the case of Telegram, it is known that this platform still allows access to many online gamblers, even though the Indonesian government is clearly opposing it.

So, according to the law, the government sent a summons to Telegram asking for clarification. However, until the second letter was sent last week, Friday (6/14), there had been no official response from the platform founded by Pavel Durov.

The Director General of Public Information and Communication (Dirjen IKP) of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Usman Kansong, when met at the Ministry of Communication and Information, also confirmed the statement that the government is firm in managing the online gambling, including on Telegram.

“If there is no response, block it. We blocked Telegram in 2017 because of radicalism. We blocked it and then the owner came to meet the then Minister of Communications and Information, Rudiantara. He said he would select the content. Now the case is different because of online gambling. Hopefully we don’t need to block it a second time,” Usman said.


Earlier on Friday (14/6), the Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, said that the government would fine digital platforms that allow the circulation of gambling content online.

“If you do not cooperate in eradicating online gambling on your platform, I will impose a fine of up to Rs500 million per content,” Budi said at an online press conference on Friday.

The sanctions apply to all digital platforms, including X, Telegram, Google, Meta and TikTok.

Budi specified that, according to the monitoring of the Ministry of Communications and Information, a lot of content with keywords related to online gambling is still circulating on digital platforms.

He gave an example: from November 7, 2023 to May 22, 2024, 20,241 keywords related to online gambling were found on Google.

Additionally, 2,702 keywords related to online gambling were found on the Meta social network from December 15, 2022 to May 22, 2024.

“The top ten keywords related to online gambling in the last week are live slots, RTP slots, no limit, slot sites, gacor slots, pragmatic slots, online casino, lottery, bonus slots and CQ9,” he said Budi Arias.

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Reporter: Livia Kristianti
Editor: Zita Meirina
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