Online Gambling Harm Society About IDR 27 Trillion Per Year

In the press conference, the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi was accompanied by Director General of Informatics Applications Semuel A. Pangerapan and Expert Staff to the Minister of Communication and Mass Media Widodo Muktiyo (photo: Public Relations of the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia)

Jakarta, MINA – The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) found the fact that money circulation from one of the online gambling sites with slot types can reach IDR 2.2 trillion per month or IDR 27 trillion a year. Meanwhile, the potential loss is more experienced by the lower middle class.

Therefore, the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi stated that he would cooperate with the Indonesian National Police to take action against slot gambling perpetrators. According to him, law enforcement is targeting slot gambling application developers, bookies, sponsoring parties, and promoters.

“All parties involved in online gambling will be brought to the realm of crime. This is being done as a concrete step towards eradicating the online gambling phenomenon which is detrimental to the common people,” he emphasized after the Press Conference on Online Gambling Content Handling at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Office, Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

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Budi Arie stated that slot gambling developers can earn up to IDR 27 trillion per year. “From one Higgs Domino Island site, the average per month reaches IDR 2.2 trillion per month or USD 150 million. So, a year can be up to around IDR 27 trillion. That’s for one site only,” he said.

According to the Minister of Communication and Informatics, action needs to be taken because slot gambling has the potential to harm society, especially among the lower middle class. It can even trap children.

“And what’s even sadder is that the losers, the victims are small communities. Imagine that 30,000 slot gambling a day. What month? 900,000 and the victims also reached small children,” he said.

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Budi Arie admits that eradicating slot gambling is not an easy thing. According to him, gambling is as old as human civilization. However, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics is trying to build awareness together.

“We will coordinate with law enforcement officials, the Indonesian Police, and we also urge that the destructive power of slot gambling is the common people and young children,” he concluded. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)