Criminal Liability of Platform Organizers in Online Gambling Cases in Indonesia: Between Normative Voids and the Need for Special Regulations

The development of digital technology has given rise to various online platforms that offer easy access, but also open up space for the rise of online gambling practices. This phenomenon is further complicated when platform operators find themselves in an ambiguous position regarding criminal liability. In Indonesia, gambling regulations are expressly regulated in the Criminal Code and the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, but they do not yet clearly accommodate the position of platform operators as actors subject to criminal liability. This lack of regulation has implications for law enforcement and the potential for platform operators to escape criminal prosecution. This study uses a normative-comparative approach by analyzing Indonesian laws and regulations and comparing them with practices in several countries, such as Singapore and Germany. The analysis shows that these countries have explicitly regulated the responsibilities of platform operators in preventing and interrupting access to online gambling, both through mandatory content filtering and criminal sanctions for proven negligence. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, there remains a legal gap that has the potential to weaken public protection from the impacts of online gambling, particularly for vulnerable groups such as students. The implications of these findings emphasize the urgency of developing specific regulations that position platform operators as legal subjects subject to criminal liability. These regulations must not only address sanctions but also preventative mechanisms, oversight, and collaboration with law enforcement. Therefore, the existence of specific regulations is expected to fill legal gaps, strengthen law enforcement, and provide certainty for all parties in addressing the phenomenon of online gambling.