Indonesia gov blocked poular search engine over gambling results.

[Marvelockg]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

since the action is a religiously sponsored one that's backed up by the authorities, there is always little or nothing you can do about it other than looking for alternatives like the use of the VPN which should work very fine. If we are talking about restrictions on getting access to site, we should have suffered more from those action but we just have to come to the reality that you can't underestimate the powers of your political leaders but can always find your way out of those situations.

This is not just a Muslim case but also touches on other religion like Christianity.  Pornography and gambling is a practice that's not in line with the practices of Christians and Muslim and any member that's caught engaging in such attrocious act his looked at as a bad figure that's represented the religion in a negative sense. Apart from subscribing to a paid VPN to enable you gain access to those site, thier are private browsers that can allow you go incognito and access those site at ease.

[YOSHIE]

Indonesia gov blocked poular search engine over gambling results

DuckDuckGo is an illegal site, the site is very closed, only those who like illegal things open the DuckDuckGo site, the Indonesian government has mentioned it here.

The government through the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) has officially blocked the DuckDuckGo search engine service. The reason is that the platform contains a lot of illegal content such as online gambling and pornography.

And the reason for blocking.

"[Blocked] because many complaints were submitted to us about the proliferation of online gambling and pornographic content in [DuckDuckGo] search results," he said, quoted Saturday (3/8/2024).

The DuckDuckGo site is indeed illegal in Indonesia, not only do they advertise gambling sites illegally, pornographic websites are also blocked, so it's natural for the government to take firm action/blocking.

So, don't worry about other gambling sites, they are still safe to use, all gambling sites that operate on this forum are open and can be played freely, DuckDuckGo is web only, we can still use Google, Chrome and so on which are legal, not a problem for societyIndonesia DuckDuckGo web blocking.

[panjul07]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

AFAIK, Indonesia is never a gambling friendly. Our fellow Indonesian forum member is using VPN and other ways just to access some popular online casino. They can only play on some online casino that specifically licensed for their country but the general casino license such as Curacao usually restricts Indonesia for accessing the casino.

I believe their government wants to regulate their citizens properly in terms of gambling activities since they want their citizens to only play on government license casino.

I'm Indonesian and I have to say that the statement "Indonesia never a gambling friendly" is not completely correct.
Why? Because gambling was something legal long time ago, you guys can do google search with keyword Jakarta Casino, SDSB and Porkas.
But I do not really know the exact time when gambling was fully banned by the government (maybe I need to search about it first).
These days, Indonesia government become much stricter with gambling because there are too many underage people who are involved in online gambling.

[dansus021]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

Well Im from Indonesia and if you trying to find a local find casino then I hope you can find one ahahha as long as I know there is no single legal casino here, maybe you can find one or two but those are the illegal one. The government are banning any type of gambling for lot of reasons and same as the other that Indonesia is a Muslim country I mean majority is Muslim and the become the biggest Muslim by population in the world.


based on the news that I just barely read and shocked that VPN are going to be blocked too
"Yesterday, Mr. Hokky (Ministry's Director General of Informatics Applications) had a meeting with Mr. Wayan (Ministry's Director General of Postal and Information Technology Operations), and we will shut down free VPNs to reduce access to networks for the general public to curb the spread of online gambling," stated Setiadi on June 31, 2024.

To be honest slot gambling is popular here and some of its user is a kid that why people concern about.
Indonesia blocked so many sites back then telegram, PayPal and lot other thing is blocked
Porn related and gambling are definitely going to be blocked and if the foreign company don't pay taxes but their website serve Indonesia people there might be blocked too

[Hirose UK]

I think in Indonesia there are no land-based casinos anywhere so you will never be able to find it.

My quick research suggests the availability of the private gambling rooms in some Indonesia hotels and if this info is correct such places would satisfy my gambling needs. Regarding to big  casinos, it seems you are right, they are not permitted to operate officially though  some underground ones may still in existence but, I think, such places house the  menacing danger for the stranger thus I don't visit them.

If you research shows all of these things are true, maybe only in some big star hotels and of course they have given some kind of special tax to be able to keep running the business, but I personally have never seen it.
So far, from some of the information searches I have done, I have not found any authentic evidence regarding the availability of hidden rooms in some hotels that provide place for gambling.
But for some illegal places such as special houses in some remote villages that are used for gambling, it is true, but it is not guaranteed to be safe and of course the majority are only local residents who bet there such as lottery games, some card games, dice and also some kind of sports betting or cockfighting.
For tourist or foreign tourist, it is highly discouraged to visit such places and it would be better if you want to gamble, still use an online gambling site.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Was this the first time such actions had happened in Indonesia? Given the long-standing ban on gambling in this country, I don't find it surprising. If you remember numerous gaming portals were blocked back in January, and of course, the government wants to be consistent, which I fully agree with. If Indonesia is considered a Muslim country, what kind of porn viewing or gambling can we talk about? If people are Muslims, they shouldn't even think about such vices. Everything is fair.

Moreover, the ignorance and poverty of the population can only make their situation worse when gambling.

[Dickiy]

the majority of the population is Muslim, and from what I know if Islam strictly prohibits gambling and pornography and the country implements a ban on pornography and gambling therefore the prohibition of gambling in Indonesia has been carried out since the law on gambling in the country was passed, whether gambling online or land or in public will be subject to penalties in accordance with the laws in the country. the eradication and blocking of gambling sites that are currently being carried out are quite intensively carried out by the government in the country.
the government's efforts to eradicate this are carried out because the majority of the population has a small income, and that will worsen the situation there,
if you intend to visit the country I suggest not looking for a gambling place.

[mu_enrico]

I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

Locals commonly named this country Wakanda or Konoha due to fear of the regime (well you may already guess from the massive censorship policy), so just you know
Anyway, Wakanda isn't a gambling-friendly country and have never been one in 20 years or so, so don't expect to come here and gamble... There aren't any legit land casinos, you might find one but it's definitely an illegal one.

Feel free to visit Wakanda but for tourism purposes or other than gambling. We have lots of famous destinations/attractions. The country itself is safe to visit and stable. As long as you bring enough money and pick the correct services, you'll never be disappointed with your visit.

[Taskford]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

I'm not surprised about the action done by Indonesian government since 87% of their citizens are Muslim in their religions gambling is prohibited. Although Gambling is prohibited in most religions but maybe they just take good action because maybe they find something bad and online gambling became so rampant nowadays. Maybe their government is earning from gambling or ads before but maybe they see the moral implications brought by this activity and they decide to stop this since provably that they do a good study and the result maybe didn't end up well then just decide to blocked it so that their citizens will be away from gambling activities.

[Wexnident]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

It's not really gambling now is it? Yeah they have laws for gambling and duck duck go just probably failed to adopt said laws in their search engine for visitors from that specific country. Nothing weird or odd here lol. Not to mention that afaik gambling itself is illegal? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. And even if it was allowed, it just shows how much the government controls gambling itself, instead of outright banning it like other countries.

Also, wouldn't really want to go to a local casino on an overseasa trip. Like really? Pretty sure there's other better vists you can go to.

[Questat]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

Just don't gamble for a while and enjoy your vacation. Alternatively, you can use a VPN to try to access the gambling site, but there's a risk involved, so you should be aware of that. The only way to bypass the restriction is by using a VPN, so you either take the risk and gamble or accept the reality that you can't gamble in that country where gambling is prohibited. This is a good opportunity to test your self-control.

[aioc]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

Now you know that gambling is illegal in gambling and since it's considered Haram in their country, anything that is associated with gambling cannot exist in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government is just trying to protect its people from the harmful effects of gambling. If you're visiting Indonesia, you will have to use VPN to gamble online since they do not have a land-based casino.
Indonesia is a beautiful country, but you will have to skip it if you are looking for countries with land-based casinos.

[joniboini]

Not to mention that afaik gambling itself is illegal? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. And even if it was allowed, it just shows how much the government controls gambling itself, instead of outright banning it like other countries.

Yes as mentioned above, gambling is illegal. I think this is not the first time the government make stupid blocking decisions. I remember other top-level domains got blocked because some people use their sub-domain to host banned services. Just recently they also blocked Wordpress iirc. They managed to stop people from using DNS filtering with tools like Warp from Cloudflare too iirc, so it take s a little bit more effort if you want to bypass their DNS filter. Kind of a shame they choose a band-aid solution like this instead of educating people or block the illegal websites directly.

[letteredhub]

I'm sorry but this just sounds ridiculous(at least for me), I mean, it's common sense that a search engine will show search results of pornography or gambling if it is searched on the browser. I guess they want duckduckgo to automatically block any results that have something to do with porn or gambling when being used in their country.

Anyone from a non-muslim society would definitely have wit to find this ridiculous but the perspective will be different from an Indonesian who understands the cultural background of his society. I believe it's what it's allowed through the search engine that will pop up. And if porn ads as well as gambling are restricted ain't no way they're going to pop up. If a company want to establish in a country I think they just either have to abide by the government policies or leave if they can't abide by it. duckduckgo are conversant with the existing laws not that they were operating in ignorance because before now many sites has been ban/blocked for similar offence.

I think in Indonesia there are no land-based casinos anywhere so you will never be able to find it.

My quick research suggests the availability of the private gambling rooms in some Indonesia hotels and if this info is correct such places would satisfy my gambling needs. Regarding to big  casinos, it seems you are right, they are not permitted to operate officially though  some underground ones may still in existence but, I think, such places house the  menacing danger for the stranger thus I don't visit them.

According to their local laws, which are also not only limited to citizens but also to visitors, gambling activities are highly prohibited there. Even online casinos and their related platforms have been blocked from being accessed from Indonesia, and anyone found guilty of violating the laws faces some punishment, which in most cases might end up landing the person in prison. So I will advise you, if you are to visit, to totally stay away from gambling activity in order not to get yourself in trouble there. 

Is Gambling Legal in Indonesia?
Gambling is prohibited in Indonesia, it is considered completely illegal for both locals and foreigners. There are no proper casinos in the country, and those who practice gambling may find severe punishments by authorities and thrown to jail.

No proper casinos in the country which underscores that land based casinos actually exist but only that they operate underground as illegitimate casinos, so for a gambler over there faces double risk's, the risk of going to jail with the risk of losing your money as you gamble. I find this dual risk funny though.

[EluguHcman]

Indonesia ban online casinos but surprisingly they have plenty of active gamblers which are willing to spend their money for their gambling activities

It actually does not make sense about the governments restricting citizens from activities that derives them fun but being realistic, responsible governments would always respond to actions which has potentials to damage the citizens reputation.

Imagine the agilities of this Indonesians willingness to have their hard earned money lavished on gambling and not even that there are existing flexible opportunities to earn those money as they faces hard economy system.

So the action of the government banning online casinos there was to help curtail the level and anxieties of gambling in the country because there are excessive high rate gambling addiction there.

Moreso, the religions practices of Indonesians is highily acknowledged and respected which gambling is one recognized activity that is against their religious practices.
Definitely there will be an ease towards the forces of the citizens loose too much on gambling when they can no longer have that self services of betting at their comfortabilities or betting at their Privacies while gambling online.

[pakhitheboss]

I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

I am not so sure but Bali is the place, which is outside of Indonesia for all the good activities. It seems you would need to do some research before going to this country as the rules are very different in Indonesia and on that island. I do not think that you can officially gamble in that country of Bali but there is said to be unregistered gambling in that part. I will not be able to support my theory as one of my friends did tell me about local gambling. He said cockfighting is a game where anyone can place their bet. It is clear that gambling in that country exists in a different form and you should do your research or ask the Philippines board.

[Findingnemo]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

Indonesia is an Islamic nation and most of them outright banned gambling due to the religion so I wonder why you get an impression that it was legal all the time and now you started doing some research due to your trip then you stumbled with your information.

Bypassing ISP block isn't that really hard, all we need is VPN but using VPN on casinos can cause lot of troubles.

And I am sure you can find lot of unregulated gambling centers there, I had one colleague a long before who was from Indonesia and deeply addicted to lotto and he mentioned about various kinds of gambling is possible in their country.

Anyway you're not supposed to violates country laws especially when you're a foreigner.

[Hispo]

Is not Indonesia like one of the biggest countries in the world in terms of Muslim population?
If so, then I would not be surprised if the government of the country (loyal to the Sharia law) decided to make it harder for the people of the country to access to gambling by blocking that search engine.
Though, It is also a tough hit to those who were interested only in the privacy enhancing features of the search engine, and did not intend to gamble in the first place...

Regardless of this action by the government, people who wish to gamble will continue to do so, underground and using VPNs 

[Slow death]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

It is very difficult to deal with governments that enact laws based on religion. Most of the time, they become a dictatorship and use religion as a means of making the dictatorship seem legitimate. I am not defending pornography, but I think that instead of this government blocking websites, they could organize a public debate in which they would collect several ideas on how they could legalize pornography and gambling, in this way they would punish anyone who shares child pornography and they could also open space for women over 18 years of age who want to get involved with pornography to have their rights respected. They could also legalize gambling, casinos would pay taxes and would not accept minors under 18 years of age from playing. Now, when this government keeps prohibiting, then people will use VPNs, people are more vulnerable because they will be playing in casinos that will not respect their rights. With the advancement of technology it will be inevitable that one day religion will disappear

[Fortify]

Just encountered this news - "DuckDuckGo blocked in Indonesia over ..., gambling search results." which has dropped a bomb on me. I have never been in this country and always thought it is loyal to gambling. But it seems to be not. How does the matter lie at present? I wonder this because of my plans to visit Indonesia for a couple of weeks and when visiting countries for the first time  I commonly show myself  round the local casinos.

You should maybe do more research before making big assumptions about a country then, as it has a heavily Muslim population and gambling is generally frowned upon in that religion - why do you think that they would be "loyal to gambling"? In fact, why do you think any country would be "loyal" to gambling? It is generally associated with trouble making behavior, because while the casinos contribute tax revenues the users who lose money are often the poorest and most desperate in society. Now, whether it is fair for them to block a whole search engine because they disagree with some results, that seems like censorship taken too far, but it's up to the people to overthrow their government if they really wanted more openness and change.