The Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs has announced that it is drafting regulations on the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) as a strategic step in combating online gambling.
In addition to drafting VPN regulations, Syaiful Garyadi, the ministry’s Assistant Deputy for Data Protection and Electronic Transactions, stated that the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital is also working to block online gambling sites.
“We are targeting two outcomes: effective blocking technology and VPN regulations,” Garyadi said in an official statement from the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs on Friday, the 15th of August.
Garyadi further noted that the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital had already blocked access to between 5,000 and 9,000 illegal content sites within a week. However, sites displaying illegal content subsequently reappeared.
“Our [ministry] colleagues are like firefighters: putting out a fire, but the source of the fire is never extinguished,” he remarked.
Alongside regulatory measures, the government is also seeking improvements to blocking tools (including collaboration with service providers and ISPs) to ensure that access cuts are more sustainable.
“We want to ensure that access cuts are not merely temporary, but truly capable of closing the gap for the distribution of illegal content,” Garyadi added, noting that technical approaches would be combined with policy measures.
Meanwhile, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan or PPATK) will block digital wallets suspected of being connected to online gambling. PPATK Head Ivan Yustiavandana revealed that the value of online gambling transactions via digital wallets is enormous.
“We have also handled many cases involving e-wallets,” he also divulged, as quoted from the press on Friday, the 22nd of August.