Govt to rope in religious leaders to check online gambling

Jakarta (ANTARA) –
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, has said that religious leaders will be involved in efforts to eradicate online gambling, specifically for disseminating information and educating people on a massive scale.

“We will continue this in more detail with several institutions, perhaps later I will have an audience with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the mosque councils, and the bishops,” he added here on Monday.

He informed that social assistance for online gambling victims will be given to those who are experiencing financial and psychosocial losses.

“They must get assistance from the government because in the Constitution, Article 34, paragraph (1) states that the poor and neglected children are cared for by the state,” he explained.

Meanwhile, people found gambling online will be punished in keeping with the Criminal Code or the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law, he emphasized.

“In Article 303 of the Criminal Code and ITE Law Number 11 of 2008, Article 27, paragraph (2), it is clear that the penalty is six years in prison and a fine of Rp1 billion (around US$61,110)… those violating the law will not be given social assistance,” he said.

On June 14, 2024, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially established the online gambling eradication task force, led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Hadi Tjahjanto, through the issuance of Presidential Decree Number 21 of 2024.

The task force has expressed its readiness to carry out an extensive campaign to improve people’s awareness of the risks of online gambling.

“We will carry out an extensive campaign by providing education on the risks of online gambling addiction. It can be carried out through formal and informal schools,” Tjahjanto said.

The campaign will involve a number of parties, such as religious leaders, community leaders, and academicians.

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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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