Gambling in Indonesia
With a population of around 270 million people, Indonesia is a massive market for online gambling. Most of the best sites offer a variety of real money games including poker, casino, sports betting and more. Many of these sites have mobile-optimised apps too, so that they can be played on the go. With decent internet coverage in most areas of the country, it’s easy for most Indonesians to play their favourite games wherever they are.
Gambling in indonesia is highly regulated and, despite a recent report suggesting that the industry will grow from $34 billion to $80 billion within a few years, the government is pushing hard in the opposite direction. It is a predominately Muslim country and therefore upholds Islamic law, which means that all gambling activities are strictly regulated. The country had a state-run lottery in the past, but this was discontinued due to massive public protests. Although underground gambling arcades and sports betting rings exist in major towns, they are often raided by police and the government regularly imposes severe sanctions on those involved with these illegal activities.
The Ministries of Social Affairs, Religious Affairs and Communications & IT have joined forces to try to tackle the problem by working with telecommunications providers to identify and block messaging that promotes gambling. This should mean that the vast majority of gambling-related websites and social media posts are blocked in 24 hours of being discovered. However, there are some loopholes that remain. For example, it is possible for users to purchase more play chips at a social casino by using real money, which would take the site closer to actual gambling and would therefore be against the law in Indonesia. Similarly, fantasy sports betting and esports betting are also considered to be gambling.