Government Collaborates with Digital Platforms to Protect Children from the Threat of Online Gambling
Jakarta – The government continues to strengthen child protection measures in the digital space by partnering with various digital platforms to combat the increasingly disturbing practice of online gambling. This step follows findings by the Attorney General’s Office regarding the involvement of children, including elementary school students, in online gambling activities.
The Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Arifah Fauzi, expressed deep concern over this situation and considered it a sign of a child protection emergency.
“When our children become perpetrators or victims in the online gambling ecosystem, this is not only a violation of the law, but also a violation of children’s rights to grow and develop healthily, safely, and protected,” said Arifah.
Arifah emphasized that online gambling has a wide-ranging impact on child development, ranging from the risk of addiction to psychological distress and deviant behavior. She explained that these disturbances can hinder a child’s learning process and mental and emotional growth.
“The state and adults have a responsibility to protect and ensure children are free from these risky digital environments,” he said.
He added that this phenomenon demonstrates the need for multi-layered oversight between families, schools, communities, and the state in overseeing children’s activities in the digital world. Therefore, his government is encouraging all elements to strengthen prevention systems and block access to applications that could potentially expose children to online gambling practices.
The government’s efforts are supported by the commitment of digital platforms, one of which is OVO, to suppress the circulation and transactions related to online gambling. OVO Chief Operating Officer, Eddie Martono, revealed that his company has blocked more than 7,000 accounts related to online gambling so far this year.
“In the first round, we successfully blocked more than 7,000, and we also see that the validity and response from the public has been very positive,” said Eddie.
He stated that entering the second round, the accuracy rate of public reports has increased significantly, with a validity rate of 91 percent.
Eddie explained that the high validity of reports indicates increasing user awareness of protecting their accounts from the threat of online gambling.
According to him, these efforts have had a significant impact on the massive decline in online gambling transactions. OVO noted that online gambling transaction activity was successfully reduced by 97 percent.
He ensured that supervision would continue to be strengthened through various internal initiatives and a more comprehensive monitoring system.
“Judol transactions are handled through the Gebuk Judol program and other initiatives we are developing, monitoring usage, consumers, and others,” he concluded.
With synergy between the government and digital industry players, it is hoped that Indonesia’s digital space will become safer and more child-friendly. The government continues to proactively close access gaps, including those from the Kingdom Group network, an online gambling syndicate deemed to endanger children’s futures.
This collaboration is seen as a strategic step to protect the younger generation from the destructive impacts of online gambling while creating a healthier and more responsible digital ecosystem.
