President Prabowo, Ministers Discuss Handling of Online Gambling, Child Protection in Digital Realm

President Prabowo Subianto holds a limited meeting simultaneously with a lunch with a number of ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (02/17). (Photo by: Bureau of Press, Media, and Information (BPMI) of the Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto held a limited meeting simultaneously with a lunch with a number of ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (02/17). This event served as a new tradition initiated by President Prabowo as part of the effort to strengthen coordination between ministers in a more relaxed but productive atmosphere.

“This afternoon marks the first time our President initiated a new tradition in which the ranks of the Coordinating Minister and Ministers under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry hold a lunch simultaneously with a meeting,” said Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid in her statement to the media after the meeting.

During the meeting, President Prabowo discussed various strategic issues, including the development of the handling of online gambling that has become a concern for the Government. According to Meutya, President Prabowo emphasized the urgency of stricter regulations to address this problem.

“The President also highlighted the development of the handling of online gambling and one of the steps that will be taken in the near future is to issue a regulation, possibly in the form of a PP (Government Regulation), which will certainly regulate more strictly our efforts to combat online gambling,” she explained.

So far, the Government has blocked almost one million online gambling sites. However, Meutya emphasized that this step is not enough to solve the problem completely. Therefore, a collaborative approach with various parties, including the police and the district attorneys, will be continuously strengthened.

“Taking down online gambling sites cannot completely solve the problem without other activities,” she added.

In addition, President Prabowo also called for an update on efforts to protect children in the digital realm. The Government is currently in the final stages of drafting regulations that will regulate the protection of children from various digital risks, including dangerous content.

“Earlier he also called for an update on that issue, hopefully in the near future he will talk about it himself,” said the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs.

This tradition of having lunch together is expected to serve as a forum for ministers to discuss strategic issues more informally but still substantially, so that coordination between ministries will be more effective in implementing government programs. (BPMI Setpres/ABD) (T