Cybersecurity observer Alfons Tanujaya emphasized that digital platform providers must comply with applicable regulations regarding the prohibition of online gambling or judol, including preventing the use of social media platform comment columns to promote online gambling sites.
According to him, the Ministry of Communication and Digital can pressure social media platforms to proactively participate in eradicating judol because they have been registered as Electronic System Providers doing business in Indonesia.
"As a PSE, they are obliged to comply with Indonesian laws that prohibit gambling activities and their promotion," Alfons said in a press statement.
He made the statement following the rise in comments promoting online gambling on social media platforms during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Automated bots are deployed to create promotional responses to online gambling sites on viral posts with high interaction rates.
According to Alfons, the rise in online gambling promotions in the comments section indicates that online gambling businesses have become more restricted after the government tightened its oversight of digital platforms, including through the implementation of biometric data-based registration regulations for prepaid SIM cards starting July 1, 2026.
Due to the difficulty of accessing targets via websites or SMS, the perpetrators' network has switched to using the comments column on social media platforms as a promotional channel.
Alfons stated that digital platform providers actually have the technical capability to recognize unusual activity patterns, including the activity of thousands of bot accounts originating from the same network.
The ability to identify IP addresses, automated behavior, and account coordination patterns can be a crucial tool for stopping the spread of online gambling site promotional content before comments reach more users.
"Eradication isn't just about deleting content. The perpetrators' networks must also be disrupted," Alfons said.
In addition to taking action in the digital space, Alfons said that a strategy for tracking the flow of funds is also very important in efforts to break the network of online gambling business actors .
According to him, the synergy between the Ministry of Communication and Digital, the Financial Services Authority , and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center needs to be strengthened to track the flow of funds from online gambling networks .
