"We will soon send (reprimand) letters to other digital platforms that are still advertising online gambling. All platforms will be treated equally," the ministry's director general of public information and communication, Usman Kansong, told ANTARA in Jakarta.
The director general made the statement in response to complaints received from internet users about numerous verified accounts promoting online gambling sites on social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.
Based on ANTARA’s observation, the verified X accounts promoting online gambling appear to be bot accounts, whose number of followers/followings is below 10. Such accounts have been advertising online gambling websites that have been blocked by the government.
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Kansong said that the government's decision to send reprimand letters to digital platforms is the right one, and it is expected to protect Indonesia's digital space from content and accounts that endorse online gambling.
Last year, the Communication and Informatics Ministry sent a reprimand letter to Meta, one of the biggest digital platforms operating in Indonesia. Meta is managing a number of popular social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Through the letter, the ministry urged Meta to follow the applicable regulations in Indonesia that strictly forbid any kind of gambling practice, including online gambling. Meta was also asked to exercise stricter control over online gambling advertisements.
"Earlier, we gave Meta a deadline to prevent and take down online gambling-related content, and it complied with our reprimand. Hence, we will send similar letters with a deadline to platforms found advertising online gambling," Kansong informed.
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Translator: Livia K, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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