[NEWS]Indonesia Blocked 3.7M Gambling Websites Since 2024

[Rashlyowl]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

[ryzaadit]

How is possible to have 3.7m gambling websites? I have seen info that there are about 1 billion web pages, if Indonesia has blocked 3.7m, this is 0.37% of the whole internet. Look unrealistic for me. If I add unblocked pages then I cant imagine to have +3.7m unique casino names and site names. These casinos might have have random name then or random combinations of symbols.

The reason is because these Asia Casino Site

Are mostly targeting Asia like Malaysia, Indonesia and other they have bunch of mirror link. Sometimes a link with IP for their gambling without any name on the site it self, you ban one of them they will created 5-10. They also flood every section in comment Tiktok, Instagram, YT and others.

Asia Site with Non-Asia site like (Stake, and other) having a different mechanism marketing. For them, they tried to spread it with quantity not quality.

[Alphakilo]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

The number is outrageous to believe I must say and the fact that they must have employed Ai technology to this effect makes me wonder if they really blocked just gambling sites or anything like keywords or links or pages or URL associated with gambling sites and platforms. Perhaps it's more of the redirected links, auto generated mirrors fed into a firewall registry and this may just be the work of large crime syndicate operations rather than legal regulated gambling sites.
Still, Indonesia is known to ban gambling activities in total and am not surprised they took this drastic measure to try to wipe out anything related to gambling activities in the country. What a way to go. They have just had enough.

[Vaculin]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

Even if its saying an honest number, still blocking alone do not stop those gamblers from accessing gambling sites. Especially gambling addicts, they will always come up with means for continuous gambling, even if they'll resort into illegalities as long as they fulfill their gambling urge.

That proves the current situation why Indonesia is still facing a severe, high rate of online gambling addiction despite of the strict blocking of gambling sites.

[Orpichukwu]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

Even here in my country, Nigeria, we also have high numbers of unprofessional gambling sites, but if the government wakes up someday to give us numbers which they have blocked over a period of 2 years and they amount to millions, I will doubt it. The numbers don’t appear realistic at all, even if we were to add up both mirror and duplicate domains; the numbers still appear very high, especially within the time frame they said they used to block them all.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

Even if its saying an honest number, still blocking alone do not stop those gamblers from accessing gambling sites. Especially gambling addicts, they will always come up with means for continuous gambling, even if they'll resort into illegalities as long as they fulfill their gambling urge.

That proves the current situation why Indonesia is still facing a severe, high rate of online gambling addiction despite of the strict blocking of gambling sites.

Not just Indonesia, to be be fair with them. A lot of countries have tried to ban illegal gambling sites, and we can say that maybe some of them are successful. But the rate could be very low as we have seen the tremendous growth of gambling since the pandemic.

And so with this kind of numbers, maybe we will have to question them. But still, they are doing every effort they can muster specially as big as a Muslim country. And some countries should learn from them on how to stop and block them.

[asriloni]

As i know by reading the news they claimed that they banned 3.7m gambling sites since 2024 used AI. Meanwhile, they're not a AI based country. Some of their officials are getting bribes to protect those gambling sites too. So i guess that number claimed by them being purposed to be a PR stunt only.

[TheUltraElite]

I as a resident of Indonesia also don't believe that number, lol but I believe that the government is indeed blocking illegal gambling sites, it's just a matter of the number that I don't believe, and know the fact that illegal gambling sites in indonesia with various brands with local names are quite a lot, these sites are unlikely to be blocked permanently, because even though they have been blocked, they can change the domain so that they can operate again.

Since you are into the Stake campaign I believe they have not blocked Stake yet. However Stake is blocked in India since some time now.

Domain name change and use of VPN can be methods from either sides respectively to circumvent these restrictions. I dont think blocking these sites has any actual outcome because the government is essentially looking for victims to extort money from in the names of taxation and license. Unless they get the money they want, they will continue playing this cat and mouse game, essentially to create some problems to the site owners.

[bitLeap]

As i know by reading the news they claimed that they banned 3.7m gambling sites since 2024 used AI. Meanwhile, they're not a AI based country. Some of their officials are getting bribes to protect those gambling sites too. So i guess that number claimed by them being purposed to be a PR stunt only.

It's common knowledge among Indonesians that the government is involved, even having agents running gambling sites. I'm not particularly surprised, as online gambling in Indonesia continues to operate. Despite claims of blocking millions of sites, millions more remain untouched. That's how it works, I'm sure Indonesians have long been aware of this scheme.

[macson]

Is that an achievement? I mean, they can claim to have blocked millions of sites throughout the year, but have they checked the number of gamblers to see if it's decreasing? Nowadays, you can create a site in just a few minutes, so if they block one site, there might be 100 new ones popping up with nearly identical names. So, blocking a site isn't an achievement, I suppose.

[danherbias07]

3.7 million gambling websites. Wow! It's unbelievable, but if this is a fact, then they did great. Now, the next step is trying to prevent it from growing on that number again. I am sure those who made it will not just stop easily, and even if they have arrested some individuals who are connected with these illegal gambling sites, they must still find the mastermind behind it all.

Because I truly doubt that 3.7 million are owners of those sites. It may be just 5-10 groups who keeps on making those many gambling sites to hide the true illegal ones. It could be a strategy to confuse the authority.

[Emjay24]

Even though I am Indonesian citizen, but I also not really sure with that number. If 3.7 million include affliates, this become make sense, because indeed there is so many affiliates ads created in social media. Unfortunately it is not mentioned whether this affiliates include social media account or real domain. If this also include social media account, then this become make sense. But if real domain and landing page, this become not make sense.

I hope this answers your question

Indonesia Has Spent 2 Years Blocking Sites – The Tally is 3.7 Million
Since October 2024, the ministry has been able to block 3.7 million online gambling websites, including affiliates, sportsbooks, and casinos, with over 38,000 bank accounts suspended and presumed to be facilitating gambling operations.

By including affiliates it means any site that runs gambling ads or have links that points to gambling platforms embedded in their site is also included in the block list of the Indonesian government, both media handles of influencers and those handling any sort of promotions, so real domains should be included.

Gambling is prohibited in its entirety in Indonesia. Some 85,500 mobile numbers have been flagged as potentially used in scamming operations, independent of gambling. Police continue to see gambling thrive, despite these restrictive measures and the concentrated effort to root out the activity.

Draconian laws and consistent enforcement have not in themselves been enough to stop the proliferation of ilelgal gambling.

Children Also Exposed to Gambling, as Police Leads Arrests
Police have been busy, with some 1,164 suspected individuals arrested in 2026 alone over their involvement in illegal gambling operations, resulting in the seizure of $105 million.

I feel the indonesian government would have lesser work to do if they only regulate gambling in their country and not totally eradicating it. The bolded part here surely indicates they are not winning the war of eradicating gambling totally from the nation yet. Even if they scrape out every local gambling setting, people would still use VPNs and access offshore casinos. They're loosing out on a huge margin to offshore casinos which their citizens surely patronize, or they're contented with the revenue they generate in confiscating funds and assets from illegal gambling structures.

[Fiatless]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

Maybe they added different web and social media pages to the list of the websites they claim to have blocked. Just as every other member, I also believe that the number was exaggerated.

The country is really fighting hard to limit gambling activities, but this will be hard to achieve. Gambling has been part of Indonesian society until it was banned in 1993. It would take some time for the goverment to eradicate an activity that has been part of people's lifestyle.

[arwin100]

For those outside Indonesia, that figure is indeed hard to believe. Yet, such is the reality. In Indonesia, there are many gambling sites that look unprofessional, unlike Stake, Rainbet, Shuffle & several other big brands. I suspect they compiled the data based on names per domain. Consequently, mirror sites are also included in the records. That explains why the figures are so high.

Maybe they added different web and social media pages to the list of the websites they claim to have blocked. Just as every other member, I also believe that the number was exaggerated.

The country is really fighting hard to limit gambling activities, but this will be hard to achieve. Gambling has been part of Indonesian society until it was banned in 1993. It would take some time for the goverment to eradicate an activity that has been part of people's lifestyle.

The number is huge and that makes look unreal, but multiple sources points out that those number of block sites in Indonesia is real. The site is not all about existing online casinos, but also those sites which have online gambling connection.

Also its understandable on why their government did that, since they are Muslim country and gambling is heavily forbidden in their religion, also they associate this with other illegal matters. Also I don't agree its part of their society, although maybe there are several people in that country gamble. But that one does not represent as a whole.

[freedomgo]

The number is huge and that makes look unreal, but multiple sources points out that those number of block sites in Indonesia is real. The site is not all about existing online casinos, but also those sites which have online gambling connection.

Also its understandable on why their government did that, since they are Muslim country and gambling is heavily forbidden in their religion, also they associate this with other illegal matters. Also I don't agree its part of their society, although maybe there are several people in that country gamble. But that one does not represent as a whole.

I’m pretty sure they didn’t manually review and verify all 3.7 million of those sites. They probably used some kind of algorithm to identify and block them. Something similar happened in the Philippines when an ISP blocked Bitcointalk, apparently because it was mistakenly classified as a gambling site.

I believe the same thing may have happened in Indonesia. Still, 3.7 million is an overwhelming number.

[Accardo]

As long as the generation isn't embedded to the religion that they are born from, they won't care about the rules of their religion.

I have heard that law before but I have no idea what are the contents of it.

Too many gambling websites have been existing and they're battling for the industry for their own niche and market in Indonesia plus possible overseas users too.

The draconian law is of ancient origin, it tracks back to BC, the law is about sentencing criminals, and thieves to death. I'm surprised to see it linked to the affairs of curtailing gambling activities in Indonesia.

[Pandu Geddon]

I’m pretty sure they didn’t manually review and verify all 3.7 million of those sites. They probably used some kind of algorithm to identify and block them. Something similar happened in the Philippines when an ISP blocked Bitcointalk, apparently because it was mistakenly classified as a gambling site.

I believe the same thing may have happened in Indonesia. Still, 3.7 million is an overwhelming number.

A huge number of gambling sites. But unfortunately, they can block online gambling sites, but I guess that just limits access. And actually, people can still access online gambling. 
So, is blocking gambling sites like that really effective in fighting gambling cases there? 
But I think, after doing all that, the government should look for data again to see whether their measures are effective or not.

[TedMosby]

I don't believe it. Even if it's true, it doesn't have a positive impact on Indonesia. You can easily bypass it by using a VPN or Google DNS. If they are serious about banning gambling, they should also take action against people who promote online gambling on social media. I still see many influencers and gambling ads online, yet enforcement seems limited. Somehow, I think they make gambling illegal so the money goes into their personal or group's pockets instead of being collected as tax revenue for the country.

[Russlenat]

I don't believe it. Even if it's true, it doesn't have a positive impact on Indonesia. You can easily bypass it by using a VPN or Google DNS. If they are serious about banning gambling, they should also take action against people who promote online gambling on social media. I still see many influencers and gambling ads online, yet enforcement seems limited. Somehow, I think they make gambling illegal so the money goes into their personal or group's pockets instead of being collected as tax revenue for the country.

Yes, that’s true. Although there are already a lot of laws and regulations, the problem is the lack of proper implementation. We can start with the ISPs because access to illegal betting sites can easily be bypassed by using a VPN.

I think what we’re saying here is that the authorities are doing their job by blocking access to these betting sites because they’re illegal. If gamblers still manage to access them, the authorities can no longer be blamed because they’ve already done their part.

But as you said, these restrictions can easily be bypassed. Maybe they need to find a more effective strategy so gamblers cannot simply use VPNs to access those sites. I know it isn’t that simple, but perhaps they can still find a better solution.

[YOSHIE]

Indonesia Blocked 3.7M Gambling Websites Since 2024

The public can accept the blocking of illegal gambling sites operating in Indonesian jurisdiction, but the public never knows that there are millions of gambling sites that continue to operate with illegal but legal status, there is one key.
That is:

In a year, the total income from the gambling legalization tax reaches IDR 600 million per year or around IDR 64 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 16,000 per US dollar). These funds are used for the construction of school buildings, repairing and widening roads, and other public facilities.

Confidential/private source.

Taxes and taxes, that is the key to every business running in Indonesia, it is not surprising if you see hundreds of crypto gambling sites scattered throughout Indonesia, they comply with taxation options, So it's okay now when we see millions of people there safely betting on sports betting on crypto gambling sites.
No one is honest about illegal business and taxation, everything can be arranged if the deposit goes smoothly, that's Konoha's country.