Indonesia demands automatic content moderation on X to curb surge in online gambling ads

The Communications and Information Ministry (Kominfo) of Indonesia held a press conference on Thursday to discuss its concerns surrounding online gambling advertisements on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, the Director-General of Informatics Application at the ministry, said the ministry wants to streamline the process of identifying and removing gambling content on the platform without manual intervention, VNA reported.

Pangerapan mentioned that while they issue a 'notice to take down' for such content, it becomes cumbersome if the issue repeats. The Indonesian authority has requested the platform to develop an automatic handling system for more efficient content moderation.

Concerns among Indonesian netizens have risen due to the increasing presence of online gambling advertisements on X, often involving public figures. This has been viewed as disruptive, appearing in search results even for users who do not follow accounts promoting online gambling.

A recent survey by Populix revealed that 63% of internet users claimed exposure to online gambling ads, with 41% expressing an interest in visiting online gambling sites after encountering such advertisements. Of this group, 16% eventually tried online gambling.

In 2023, Kominfo took down 810,785 pieces of content related to online gambling, a significant increase from the number removed in 2022. Minister Budi Arie disclosed that stern warnings and ultimatums were issued to various social media platforms, including Meta in October 2023 and X in January 2024. These warnings led to Meta removing 1.65 million online gambling content pieces and 450,000 related advertisements from August to October 2023.

Indonesia's law governing electronic transactions and information strictly prohibits online gambling, imposing severe penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and fines of up to 10 billion Rp (US$645,000) for operators found guilty of operating gambling sites.