Indonesia's Komdigi and Meta Form Joint Team to Combat Online Gambling Spam
The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) met with Meta Indonesia to strengthen moderation systems following a surge in online gambling spam flooding social media comment sections. The meeting between Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid and Meta Indonesia resulted in an agreement to form a joint team to accelerate the handling of this new modus operandi.
“Today we met with Meta and reached an agreement that we consider important. We will form a joint team within the framework of eradicating and tackling online gambling, especially the latest mode of spam comments that disturb the public,” Meutya Hafid said after meeting with Meta in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/6/2026).
Over the past two weeks, Komdigi recorded a surge of approximately 128 percent in online gambling promotion spam compared to the average findings from January to June 2026. Analysis results show that perpetrators use organised bot networks to flood comment sections of accounts with high public reach, such as government accounts, media, public figures, and influencers.
Based on Komdigi’s monitoring, the highest distribution was found on Instagram and Facebook platforms. Meutya explained that handling spam in comment sections presents different challenges compared to taking action against websites or perpetrator accounts. Komdigi itself has the authority to take preventive measures, including terminating access to accounts or content that violate the law. However, when online gambling promotions are inserted into the comment sections of official government, media, or public figure accounts, Komdigi cannot terminate access to these official accounts.
“The targets are official accounts because they have wide reach. Meanwhile, intervention in comment sections lies with the platform. The technology is with the platform. Therefore, we hope Meta will strengthen its moderation system, bot detection, and spam filtering so that Indonesia’s digital space is better protected,” she said.
In addition to strengthening preventive measures, Komdigi continues to coordinate with the National Police, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) to strengthen law enforcement, cut off fund flows, and dismantle the digital crime networks behind online gambling promotions.
Head of Public Policy for Meta Indonesia, Berni Moestafa, stated that Meta is ready to strengthen collaboration with the government. “Perpetrators continue to change the way they operate and always adapt, making prevention challenges increasingly complex. Therefore, Meta is ready to collaborate with Komdigi and form a joint team to strengthen the handling of online gambling promotion spam,” he said.
The Joint Team between Komdigi and Meta will focus on strengthening moderation systems, accelerating bot account detection, increasing the effectiveness of spam comment handling, and strengthening coordination in facing the evolving modes of digital crime.