Indonesia Removes 2.1M Illegal Online Gambling Items

Indonesia’s war on illegal gambling has continued with the removal of millions of online gambling-related pieces of digital media. The government emphasized that this action sought to shield the public rather than to limit freedom of expression.

Indonesia Removed Millions of Pieces of Negative Content

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) announced that it has removed a total of 2.8 million pieces of harmful online content between October 20, 2024, and September 16, 2025. The ministry added that a staggering 2.1 million of these items were related to online gambling.

Alexander Sabar, the Komdigi’s director general of digital space monitoring, provided additional details on the banned pieces of media, saying that they included:

• 1,932,131 website items
• 97,779 pieces of content from file-sharing platforms
• 94,004 from Meta apps
• 35,093 from Google
• 17,417 from X
• 1,742 from Telegram
• 1,001 from TikTok
• 14 from Line
• 3 from app stores

Sabar emphasized that the astronomical figures highlight the real extent of digital threats that the Komdigi and Indonesia as a whole face.

The Government Encouraged the Public to Report Negative Content

Commenting further on the matter, Sabar emphasized that the Komdigi’s actions seek to protect the Indonesian public from digital harm and not to limit locals’ freedom of expression. He explained that the government wants to protect the public and create a clean and healthy digital sector that complies with local laws.

Sabar encouraged Indonesians to play their part and report negative content whenever they spot it.

In the meantime, Indonesia continues to work hard on reinforcing its protections against harmful content. To that end, the government continues to trial the Content Moderation Compliance System (SAMAN), which seeks to automate certain processes and improve Indonesia’s capabilities to tackle negative content. SAMAN’s trial will conclude in October.

Indonesia Seized Gambling Funds

In other news, Indonesia recently seized $9.5 million worth of funds associated with illegal gambling. This was a part of one of the biggest crackdowns on illicit gaming activities and a response to the persistent black market.

Earlier, the Financial Services Authority ordered the suspension of 26,000 bank accounts believed to have ties to gambling.