Online Gambling Now a Leading Cause of Divorce in Indonesia’s Berau Regency

A local government leader in the Berau Regency, in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan Province, says online gambling is spurring a rise in divorce rates.

H. Sumadi, the Deputy Speaker of the Berau Regional People’s Representative Council, said the developments were “saddening.” He said that most divorce cases in the region “are driven by the increasingly widespread availability of online gambling platforms.”

He added that bettors often disrupt family finances, leading to a breakdown in trust and, ultimately, divorce.

Divorce Rates on the Rise in Berau

The media outlet Kalim Today pointed to data recently compiled by the regency’s Tanjung Redeb Religious Court as evidence. This data shows that the court has handled 483 divorce cases so far this year. This figure is already higher than the 431 cases recorded in the entirety of 2024.

The data also indicated that 111 of these divorce cases were filed by men, while women filed 372 cases. The record shows that 292 cases have been concluded, while the remainder are still active.

Sumadi said: “There are people in this area who have even sold their homes simply because they were mired in so much debt. That debt all stemmed from online gambling. This is not fiction. I have witnessed incidents of this firsthand.”

Possible to Stop Online Gambling Menace, Says Politician

The politician said that many Berau communities are now feeling the negative impacts of online gambling. He said the regency should tackle the problem with great seriousness.

Sumadi said that authorities must not consider the struggle against online casinos as “impossible.” He said that more preventive measures and cross-sector coordination would help Berau stamp out the scourge of online casinos.

He explained: “We must not let this problem drag on. If we do not address it seriously, the whole community could become even trapped, leading to greater suffering.”

Indonesia’s government has been fighting the seemingly unstoppable rise of online casinos for over two years. In February, President Prabowo Subianto called for new measures and greater international cooperation in Jakarta’s war on gambling.

On September 11, the lawmaker Benny K. Harman, a senior member of the opposition Democratic Party, said his party “supports the government in its efforts to eradicate online gambling.”

The Indonesian media outlet RIAU24 quoted him as saying: “President Prabowo opposes gambling. He wants to eradicate gambling, drug abuse, corruption, and terrorism. Therefore, anyone involved in online gambling must be brought to justice and punished – no matter who they are.”

Earlier this month, the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi) said it has “taken action” against 2,096,966 pieces of online gambling-related content since its crackdown began on October 24, 2024.

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