Govt Agrees to Form a Team to Eradicate Online Gambling Spam with META

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital met with Meta Indonesia to strengthen the moderation system following a surge in online gambling promotional spam flooding social media comment sections. The meeting between Minister of Communication and Digital, Meutya Hafid and Meta Indonesia officials resulted in an agreement to form a joint team to expedite handling of this new method.

Minister Meutya called the meeting crucial for addressing online gambling, which is rampant on digital platforms. "We will form a joint team to eradicate and address online gambling, especially the latest method of spam comments that are disturbing the public," said Meutya Hafid after meeting with Meta Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

In the past two weeks, Komdigi recorded a 128 percent increase in online gambling promotional spam compared to the average findings from January to June 2026. Analysis showed that perpetrators used an organized bot network to flood the comment sections of accounts with high public reach, such as government accounts, media outlets, public figures, and influencers.

Based on Komdigi's monitoring, the highest distribution was found on Instagram and Facebook. Regarding this, Meutya conveyed that handling spam in comment sections presents different challenges than taking action against perpetrators' websites or accounts.

The Ministry itself has the authority to take preventative measures, including terminating access to accounts or content that violates the law. However, when online gambling promotions are inserted into the comments sections of official government, media, or public figure accounts, Komdigi cannot terminate access to these official accounts.

Meanwhile, Berni Moestafa, Head of Public Policy at Meta Indonesia, stated that Meta is ready to strengthen its collaboration with the government. "Perpetrators continue to change their operating methods and are becoming increasingly complex, therefore, Meta is ready to collaborate with Komdigi and form a joint team to strengthen the handling of online gambling promotional spam," he said.