inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Ministry of Communication and Digital has revealed a new tactic used by online gambling perpetrators to target Indonesian citizens through social media comment sections and urged the public to avoid engaging with this tactic.
The Director General of Digital Space Supervision at the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi), Alexander Sabar, stated that there has been a 128 percent increase in online gambling-related content in the past two weeks (June 14-28, 2026) compared to monitoring from January to June 13, 2026.
"This spike is part of a transnational, organized activity that utilizes automated systems/machines/bots to monitor social media in real time. When posts from high-reach accounts experience increased interaction, the system automatically spreads comments containing promotions or links to online gambling sites," explained Alex on Monday (6/29/2026).
Discussing the data, he stated that from June 1-28, 2026, his office handled 126,180 online gambling content items in the digital space, with the majority of the sources coming from websites.
Although the majority of online gambling content was found on websites, with 111,279 items having been blocked by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, the online gambling promotion method on social media through comment sections has become more aggressive and is seeking new victims.
"This shift in methods also requires awareness from all of us. We see this as a new form or tactic used by the perpetrators. So, we sincerely hope the public will not interact with those promoting online gambling in comment sections," explained Director General Alex.
According to him, this new method is correlated with the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer matches, which perpetrators often exploit for sports betting.
This method has been widely identified on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, using fake accounts operated by machines or bots.
More specifically, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs' findings indicate that these bot accounts on social media are primarily based in India and Brazil. The comments section promotions target accounts with large followings and content that generates high engagement with their followers.
"This pattern is characterized by repetitive comments that include a variety of keywords and hashtags to evade the platform's automated moderation system," said Director General Alex.
Some of the most frequently found keywords include RAWIT BET, BARA13, and KABUL. According to Alex, all of these keywords have been entered into the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs' blocking system.
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