Some Indonesian Citizens Admit to Still Visiting Online Gambling and Pornography Sites

A significant number of Indonesian citizens are aware of and access online gambling and pornography websites. This is evident from research conducted by the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), titled *Survey on Internet Penetration and Behavior 2023*.

Regarding online gambling, 34.26% of respondents admitted to knowing about these criminal websites. However, 65.74% of respondents claimed to be unaware.

Meanwhile, 5.61% of respondents admitted to accessing such sites, while a significantly larger percentage, 94.39%, did not.

In contrast, for pornography websites, 33.81% of respondents admitted to knowing about them, while 66.19% did not.

Furthermore, 9.91% of respondents admitted to accessing pornography websites, compared to 90.09% who did not.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) stated its support for law enforcement against online gambling perpetrators and its readiness to cooperate in eradicating negative content on the internet.

On its official website, Kominfo mentions that online gambling activities are subject to Article 27 paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 45 paragraph 2 of the ITE Law, which threatens those who intentionally distribute or make online gambling accessible with a maximum prison sentence of 6 years and/or a maximum fine of Rp1 billion.

"Article 303 bis of the Criminal Code also threatens gamblers with a maximum prison sentence of 4 years and/or a maximum fine of Rp10 million," Kominfo wrote.

Regarding pornography, even paid content accessible to the public, such as on OnlyFans, can be categorized as a criminal offense. This was stated by criminal law expert from Trisakti University, Abdul Fickar Hadjar.

"Pornography distributed on any platform, as long as it is publicly accessible, even if paid, is still categorized as a pornography crime," Fickar told CNN Indonesia in a written statement on Monday (March 28, 2022).

The prohibition of pornography is stipulated in Law No. 44/2008 on Pornography.

Article 29 of the Pornography Law states that anyone involved in pornography (producing, distributing, selling content) faces a minimum prison sentence of 6 months and a maximum of 12 years and/or a minimum fine of Rp250 million and a maximum of Rp6 billion. Matters related to pornography are also regulated in the ITE Law.

This survey involved 8,510 respondents across Indonesia. The sample comprised 4,004 male and 4,506 female respondents.

Data was collected from January 10-27, 2023, using interview and questionnaire methods and multi-stage random sampling techniques.

The survey's margin of error is approximately 1.14% with a 95% confidence level.

(See also: Ministry of Communication and Informatics Blocks 683 Government and Education Websites Infiltrated by Online Gambling, Here's the Breakdown)