Indonesian lawmakers have called for a full review of arcade and children’s entertainment licenses following a police raid on illegal gambling operations disguised as family gaming centers in Jakarta.
Sarifuddin Sudding, a member of Commission III of the DPR, stressed the necessity of rigorous supervision of each arcade. He also pointed out that the state should enhance oversight to address the adapting practices of illegal gambling operators.
His comments follow a police operation by the Metro Jaya Regional Police, which uncovered gambling activity at arcade-style venues in North and West Jakarta. Authorities arrested 69 people in the raids, including managers, employees and players, while seizing more than 130 gaming machines.
At one venue, the perpetrators used children's gaming machines to disguise gambling as Mickey Mouse games and shooting fish games.
The games operated via a voucher system. The player would make a deposit, receive a voucher, exchange it for game coins, and finally convert the game outcome back into cash or gold.
Indonesia is also intensifying its crackdown on illegal online gambling by expanding the use of artificial intelligence tools to detect and block offending websites.
Last month, Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid said the ministry blocked access to approximately 3.2 million online gambling sites and is continuing to enhance its technological capabilities. She noted that many platforms rapidly replicate and disguise themselves to avoid detection.
The ministry is working alongside law enforcement, the Financial Services Authority, banks and social media platforms to monitor financial flows and remove gambling-related advertisements.
