DOI: 10.11648/j.ijls.20260904.13 ISSN: 2640-1908

Legal Reconstruction as a Policy Bridge: Advancing Criminalization of Online Gambling Amid National Differences

Muhammad Nurhidayatullah, Agus Raharjo
Show PDF Cite
Online gambling is a rapidly growing global phenomenon affecting countries across the world and creating complex legal, social, economic, and technological challenges. However, each nation adopts different domestic policies that shape how it regulates, monitors, and enforces online gambling laws, resulting in regulatory fragmentation and difficulties in addressing cross-border gambling activities. This study aims to develop an ideal legal reconstruction framework for the future criminalization of online gambling amid divergent domestic policies. This research uses a normative legal method with legislative, conceptual, and comparative approaches to examine existing regulations, legal principles, and comparative practices concerning online gambling criminalization. The results indicate that an ideal legal reconstruction to address online gambling in Indonesia must encompass three strategic dimensions. First, reform substantive criminal law by establishing primary and additional penalties for both organizers and individual perpetrators of online gambling, including classifying offences by scale small, medium, and large imposing fines proportionate to the offender’s income, and applying supplementary sanctions such as fines and community service. Second, harmonization of domestic policies through international cooperation, extraterritorial enforcement, and alignment of national online gambling regulations to strengthen cross-border legal enforcement. Third, adoption of technological approaches in law enforcement through digital monitoring, private-sector involvement in blocking illegal gambling sites, and AI-based detection of suspicious transactions. These dimensions provide an integrated framework for strengthening Indonesia’s legal response to the evolving challenges of online gambling.

More from our Archive