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Government, telecom companies join hands to curb online gambling
“[The telecom companies] have all agreed to back the effort, and they will do their best to prevent, reduce and narrow the space for online gambling activities moving forward,” a Communications and Digital Ministry official said.
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Users access online gambling websites through their smartphones in Bogor, West Java, on May 30, 2024. (Antara/Yulius Satria Wijaya)
T
he government has asked major telecommunications companies to play their part in curbing what it says is the country’s online gambling crisis by helping educate users about the dangers of the illicit activity, among other efforts.
“[The telecom companies] have all agreed to back the effort, and they will do their best to prevent, reduce and narrow the space for online gambling activities moving forward,” said Communications and Digital Ministry acting director general for digital infrastructure Ismail at a press conference on Tuesday.
His statement came after a meeting involving the ministry, officials from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) and the management of several major telecommunications operators, including Telkomsel, Smartfren and XL Axiata.
Ismail added that the companies had committed to educating the public about the dangers of online gambling by sending texts directly to their users through the short message service (SMS) system.
“This will happen immediately, and a technical team will discuss the content [of the text] in the coming day or two,” Ismail said.
Read also: Online gambling probe widened to ministry officials
Aside from SMS warnings, the government is also working with telecom companies to enforce a hard Rp 1 million (US$63) cap on phone credit transfers between users, as credit transfers are prone to be misused to fund online gambling.
