AI being used by the new Indonesian government to tackle internet gambling

 As part of the new administration's strategy to combat the illicit activity, Indonesia shut 380,000 online gambling sites in October.  Artificial intelligence is being used by lawmakers to identify and de-list service providers.

 Pabrowo Subianto, Indonesia's new president, has reaffirmed the nation's aim to ban internet gambling.  The biggest Muslim country in the world has a zero-tolerance policy regarding the matter.

 It was renamed the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs after the election in October from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.  Meutya Hafid was named head of the renamed ministry by Subianto.

 Shortly after taking office, Hafid unveiled a 100-day plan to make the internet safer for children, eliminate online gambling, digitise government services, and protect personal data.

 Hafid verified that the ministry is employing AI to identify and remove content that promotes unlawful gambling.

 According to her, the number of closed sites "has reached around 380,000" if we start counting from October 20th.  Some 300,000 of these IP addresses are blacklisted, while thousands more appear on websites like Meta, Google, and Twitter.

 Meanwhile, the newly appointed minister announced that "special cyber-patrols to detect sites and applications that contain gambling content" had been recruited by the government.

 Payment service providers, "both banks and non-banks, must have fraud detection systems to identify accounts used for online gambling," Juda Agung, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, noted.

 In Indonesia, an issue that affects everyone
 The love of gaming among Indonesians has not been diminished by the country's ban on gambling.  According to numbers released by ABC Asia, gamblers dropped RP327 trillion ($20.5 billion, €19.5 billion, or £16.2 billion) in 2023.  That amounts to approximately 1.5 percent of the GDP per year.

 Online gambling has generated RP283 trillion so far this year, according to estimates from the Financial Transaction estimates and Analysis Centre (PPATK).  A total of RP43 trillion was deposited.  That sum leaves the nation in large part.

 A "social disaster" was the description given by Muhaimin Iskandar, minister of community empowerment, regarding internet gambling, as reported by Antara News Agency.  People who bet are "victims of online fraud," he continued.

 He warned that the poverty rate would rise as a result of internet gambling unless it is addressed from all angles.

 An additional 80,000 people under the age of 10 are among the estimated 960,000 internet gamblers in the nation, according to Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro, the minister of education.

 Digital literacy is one component of a two-pronged strategy.
 The government is employing a two-pronged strategy to eradicate internet gambling, according to Iskander.  The first is the electronic monitoring of banking and internet activity.  The second is making more people in Indonesia knowledgeable about and comfortable using digital tools.

 He emphasised the need to educate the people about the need to eliminate this deception.  "The grassroots community, in particular, should not be fooled by this method."