The Indonesian government is intensifying its crackdown on online gambling. The Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK) announced that it has blocked 17,026 bank accounts suspected of involvement in online gambling, covering a wide range and attracting significant attention from all sectors of society.
According to the "Indonesia Business Post", this round of actions is led by OJK, in collaboration with multiple financial institutions and government departments. The data mainly comes from the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, targeting bank accounts involved in the illegal gambling funds transfer.
Dian Ediana Rae, head of OJK's banking supervision department, stated that freezing accounts is a key measure to combat the spread of online gambling. According to Decree No. 4 of 2023, OJK has the authority to collaborate with 16 related government agencies to jointly combat illegal financial transactions and online gambling activities.
To strengthen source control, OJK has required banks to enhance customer identity verification mechanisms, comprehensively use the national identity number (NIK) to identify customers, and strengthen monitoring of abnormal transactions. Any suspicious activities must be immediately reported to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).
The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs previously pointed out that gambling transactions have declined over the past year, showing initial success in the crackdown. However, experts warn that online gambling platforms are highly secretive and continuous efforts are needed to intensify the crackdown.
The freezing of over 17,000 accounts demonstrates the Indonesian government's firm stance on regulating financial order and purifying cyberspace, also providing new ideas for other Southeast Asian countries in combating online gambling. In the future, Indonesia may expand the scope of scrutiny, and online gambling syndicates are facing unprecedented survival pressure.
