ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – A new study by Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) sends a stern warning about the fragility of Indonesia’s digital ecosystem in confronting the surge of online gambling advertisements.
The research, titled “Online Gambling in Indonesia: A New Cultural Capitalism in a Nation Marked by Digital Inequality,” reveals how gambling platforms exploit regulatory loopholes, target vulnerable communities, and weaponize emotion to hook young users.
Presented at an online seminar hosted by the OR IPSH BRIN on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, the study exposes the sophisticated use of affective economy tactics—a business model built on emotional manipulation—to lure young audiences, especially those driven by FOMO and economic anxiety.
Nina Widyawati, lead researcher from BRIN’s Research Center for Society and Culture (PRMB), explains that the dominance of short videos, the spread of digital payments, and the growth of free online content have created a “perfect promotional ecosystem” for gambling operators.
“These ads construct fantasies of instant wealth. Young people experiencing FOMO become easy targets because they fear being left behind,” she said on December 1, 2025.
Digital Sovereignty Gap: Gambling Ads Slip Through Multiple Platforms
One of the study’s most alarming findings is the absence of strong cross-platform oversight, allowing online gambling ads to infiltrate streaming services, mobile games, social media, and short-video platforms with little resistance.
Nina emphasizes that Indonesia currently lacks digital sovereignty—the ability to regulate, monitor, and enforce rules across digital infrastructures—which enables high-risk commercial activities to flourish.
“Weak digital sovereignty creates an open arena for harmful commercial practices. These ads exploit every gap in the system,” she noted.
Communities with lower incomes are disproportionately targeted due to their higher exposure to free digital content and lower access to digital literacy.
Emotional Economics: Exploiting Hope, Fear, and Financial Stress
Using Sara Ahmed’s affective economy framework, the research identifies how online gambling ads manipulate public emotion by activating:
Hope for upward mobility,
Anxiety about financial instability, and
Fear of social exclusion.
These ads do not merely promote a product—they manufacture the illusion of opportunity. They engineer trust in unrealistic outcomes, making users believe that rapid financial gain is within immediate reach.
“Emotion becomes a tool of persuasion, designed to push individuals toward high-risk financial decisions,” Nina explained.
Socio-Economic Fallout: A Silent Crisis Emerging Among Youth
The spread of gambling content across digital platforms is already leaving severe marks on the social fabric:
Rising personal debt linked to digital gambling,
Increased domestic conflict and family breakdown,
Declining productivity among working-age youth,
Psychological harm among teenagers exposed at an early age.
Lower-income communities bear the brunt of the impact due to higher digital inequality and greater susceptibility to persuasive narratives about “quick money.”
This is not just a behavioral issue; it is a brewing socio-economic crisis.
Systemic Threat: Indonesia Risks a ‘Lost Generation’
If left unaddressed, the proliferation of gambling ads could produce what experts are calling a “high-risk generation”—young people who are financially unstable, emotionally vulnerable, and deeply integrated into harmful digital habits.
The long-term consequences include:
Declining national workforce quality,
A surge in mental health disorders,
Expansion of illegal financial activities,
Potential rise in crime linked to financial pressure.
This issue is no longer about morality. It has evolved into a systemic threat to Indonesia’s human capital and economic resilience.
A Reactive Strategy Will Not Work: Indonesia Needs Structural Reform
BRIN’s research highlights the urgent need for a coordinated, structural response. Key recommendations include:
1. Comprehensive cross-platform regulation with automated detection systems.
2. A new generation of digital literacy programs, focusing on emotional resilience, financial risk awareness, and algorithmic manipulation.
3. Stronger inter-agency coordination to avoid fragmented and reactive policies.
4. A national digital sovereignty agenda to strengthen control over global platforms.
“Online gambling cannot be handled with reactive measures alone,” Nina stressed.
Without decisive action, Indonesia may soon face a generation shaped not by opportunity or innovation, but by manufactured illusions and emotional manipulation created by online gambling ecosystems. (AT Network)
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