Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Informatics Handles 3.76 Million Pieces of Negative Content, Ranging from Pornography to Online Gambling

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kemenkominfo) reported that it has handled 3,761,730 pieces of negative content on websites and social media from January 1, 2018, to September 17, 2023.

This includes 969,308 pieces of online gambling content, 8,954 pieces of illegal fintech content, and 1,211,571 pieces of pornography, said Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi, as reported in a press release on Tuesday (September 19, 2023).

Separately, Budi continued, there were 9,607 instances of gambling links found on government websites.

Furthermore, Budi stated that from July 17 to September 17, 2023, Kemenkominfo handled 200,216 pieces of negative content. "Specifically, this includes 109,090 pieces of online gambling content, 92 pieces of fraud content, 18,219 pieces of pornography, and 1,931 gambling-related bank accounts," he said.

Budi stated that his ministry has implemented several breakthroughs in handling negative content, particularly online gambling content. For example, on September 14, 2023, Budi issued Minister of Communication and Informatics Instruction No. 1 of 2023 concerning the eradication of online gambling.

"The Ministry of Communication and Informatics is committed to taking preventive and proactive measures to eradicate various forms of online gambling or slot machine gambling on all platforms within 7 days of September 14, 2023," Budi said.

According to Budi, in accordance with the instruction, the Directorate General of Informatics Applications (Dirjen Aptika) of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics is identifying bank account numbers and phone numbers used by online gambling perpetrators.

Furthermore, he continued, Dirjen Aptika is conducting education and socialization against online gambling, instructing Electronic System Organizers (PSEs) not to facilitate the dissemination of online gambling information, and committing not to engage in activities that support, promote, or communicate with parties suspected of being involved in online gambling activities.

In addition, Budi said, Kemenkominfo is also improving the capabilities of its machines and human resources for handling negative content to increase the scope of content that can be verified and handled.

Specifically for handling online gambling content, Kemenkominfo is conducting Uniform Resource Locator (URL) crawling and identifying accounts related to negative content, and intensifying requests for bank account blocking through the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

"The Ministry of Communication and Informatics is also intensifying cooperation with digital platforms to moderate negative content, increasing supervision of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and cooperating with the prosecutor's office to monitor content and issues in the digital space," said Budi.