Why is online gambling so difficult to eradicate? This is the reason from Kominfo
- Online gambling (judol) is very difficult to disappear in Indonesia. This is a direct acknowledgment from the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo). The following are the reasons why the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information has had difficulty resolving the judol issue to date.
In the latest statement, the Director General of Information and Public Communication, Kominfo, Usman Kansong, explained that one of the reasons is because the majority of online gambling servers are located abroad.
"The locus delicti factor, (rules) of the ITE law, the Criminal Code which regulates online gambling are not extraterritorial in nature. So we cannot disconnect the server," said Usman, in a virtual discussion, Saturday, June 15 2024.
Usman continued, this made it difficult for the police to catch big bookies in the world of online gambling. Meanwhile, the legal action process in Indonesia can only be initiated against intermediaries or online gambling admins.
"We need to go after big dealers, because it is suspected that we are involving Interpol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad," he said again.
However, despite this, his party ensured that the government would continue to follow up on the judol issue which had become too detrimental to the nation. Weak regulations will not prevent him and his colleagues from moving more effectively to handle judol.
Especially, after President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially formed the Task Force for the Eradication of Online Gambling.
"So in the task force there is the National Police who collaborate with Interpol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who collaborate with Southeast Asian countries where the servers, account terminals and bookies are domiciled," he said.
Judol Victims Become Social Assistance Recipients
Coordinating Minister (Menko) for Human Development and Culture (PMK) Muhadjir Effendy emphasized that the practice of gambling can impoverish society. It doesn't matter whether it is direct gambling, aka conventional or online gambling (judol).
People who are impoverished as a result of online and conventional gambling are also said to be the responsibility of the Ministry.
"Yes, including many who have become poor, that is the responsibility of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture," said Muhadjir Effendy at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Thursday 13 June 2024.
In efforts to deal with online gambling, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture has also held a lot of advocacy for online gambling victims. In fact, including them in the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) as recipients of social assistance (bansos).
"We have provided a lot of advocacy for those who are victims of online gambling, for example, we then included them in the DTKS (Integrated Social Welfare Data) as recipients of social assistance," said Muhadjir Effendy. "Then for those who experience psychosocial disorders, we ask the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) to step in to provide guidance and provide direction," he added.
He also highlighted the dangers of online gambling as a very worrying phenomenon for the Indonesian people. Because the impact has been felt by almost all levels of society, from lower middle class society to intellectual circles.
Moreover, quite a few law enforcers who have become victims of online gambling have also become the government's concern. One of the peaks was the case of the burning of a policeman by his wife who was also a policewoman in Mojokerto, East Java.
“That is the authority of the National Police Chief. "But I ask that (the case) receive attention because law enforcers who should be eradicating online gambling have become the perpetrators," said Muhadjir Effendy. ***
