Unsoed Academic Calls Online Gambling Website Blocks a Positive Step
Purwokerto (ANTARA) – Eriene Chindy Octaviandini, a cybercrime law academic at Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) in Purwokerto, said the government’s blocking of online gambling websites was a positive step in efforts to combat internet gambling in Indonesia.
Speaking in Purwokerto, Banyumas regency, Central Java, on Wednesday, she said the efforts by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) and the police deserved appreciation, particularly the blocking of illegal sites and enforcement action against online gambling activities.
“Looking at the government’s efforts, in terms of the scale and work of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs and the police, they deserve appreciation,” she said.
She said the various blocking and enforcement measures showed that the government was seeking to limit public access to online gambling sites operating in the digital space.
However, she cautioned that blocking websites was not fully effective in stopping gambling, as operators could create new domains, change IP addresses, or use virtual private networks (VPNs) and alternative DNS services.
She therefore called for stronger law enforcement strategies based on a “follow the money” approach to trace financial flows and cut off funding for online gambling businesses.
She said real-time coordination should be strengthened among law enforcement agencies, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), Bank Indonesia, banks and digital payment providers, so transactions suspected of being linked to online gambling could be traced and acted on promptly.
“Gambling is a profit-based industry. If the websites keep changing but their payment channels, such as bank accounts, e-wallets or crypto assets, are shut down, their businesses will be paralysed,” she said.
In addition to tracing financial flows, she said international cooperation should be strengthened to tackle online gambling networks that use servers or operate from overseas.
She said this could be pursued through mutual legal assistance and cross-jurisdictional law enforcement coordination.
“Firm action against law enforcement officials found to be involved in protecting, taking bribes from or running online gambling networks is also important,” she said.
She said officials involved should face criminal proceedings, rather than only ethical or administrative sanctions, to ensure a deterrent effect.
She hoped these stronger strategies would complement the government’s website-blocking efforts, so that the campaign against online gambling would not merely restrict access to sites but also disrupt operational networks and cut off their funding.
“This should make efforts to tackle online gambling in Indonesia more effective and help reduce the recurrence of gambling activities in the digital space,” Eriene said.