Jakarta. The government has taken down 11,333 gambling websites in recent crackdowns during the past week alone and issued a warning to social media platforms on Thursday, stating that they must remove such content if they wish to continue operating in Indonesia.

Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie said that the removal of thousands of gambling websites was based on reports from the cyber patrol team and public tips.

"The Communication and Informatics Ministry can simply take down gambling websites [operating in Indonesia]. If they are attached to different websites, we will cut off [public] access to the parent websites," Budi said during a news conference in Jakarta. "When gambling contents are detected on a social media platform, we will ask the platform to remove such contents."

Since 2018, the government has taken down more than 846,000 gambling websites and apps operating in the country.

Online gambling is strictly prohibited in Indonesia under the 2008 law on electronic information and transactions.

Budi said social media platforms that refuse to remove gambling content are "subject to sanctions according to the existing regulations."

Samuel Abrijani Pangarepan, the ministry's director-general of informatics, added that the crackdown on online gambling targets individuals, including public influencers who promote gambling.

"Several influencers have been charged by the police. This measure requires public participation because we are dealing with a huge digital space," Samuel said.

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