Komdigi Warns Indonesians on Instagram: Beware of Online Gambling Draining Your Money

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) has revealed a new modus operandi used by online gambling operators to spread promotions for illegal sites. Perpetrators are now targeting the comment sections of social media accounts with large followings and high interaction rates as a medium to reach more users. Alexander Sabar, Director General of Informatics Applications at Komdigi, stated that operators deliberately target large accounts that do not monitor their comment sections, allowing thousands of gambling promotion comments to be disseminated in a short time. “They select several large accounts which, according to their monitoring, are not continuously supervised by admins,” Alex said during a press conference at the Komdigi office on Monday. “So they simultaneously carry out spamming, making the spread so massive.” He added that only when the admin becomes aware is the illegal gambling advertising in the comment section subsequently removed by the account manager. Komdigi recorded that between 1 and 28 June 2026, it handled 126,180 pieces of content related to online gambling across various digital platforms. The majority of findings still originated from websites, followed by file-sharing services and then social media platforms. Of the total enforcement actions, 11,279 content items were found on websites. Subsequent findings came from file-sharing services, followed by 4,579 content items on YouTube, 4,549 on Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram, and 622 on X. He explained that the closure of online gambling sites actually encourages perpetrators to create new sites which are then massively promoted through social media comment sections. “This is what we now see as the method, utilising accounts with very high interaction to carry out spamming in the comment sections,” he clarified. According to Alex, this shift in tactics requires vigilance from all parties. He urged the public not to interact with online gambling promotion comments, as this actually aids the spread of such illegal content. “We truly hope the public will not interact with those promoting online gambling in these comment sections,” he said. He also reminded that gambling practices, whether in person or through digital platforms, remain a criminal act. “Whatever the game model, as long as it is gambling, whether land-based or online, it remains a criminal offence,” he concluded.