{"id":776,"date":"2026-05-27T03:32:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T03:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asianewscast.com\/2026\/05\/27\/indonesia-bans-polymarket-after-site-offers-bets-on-presidents-ouster\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T03:32:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T03:32:59","slug":"indonesia-bans-polymarket-after-site-offers-bets-on-presidents-ouster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776","title":{"rendered":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Indonesia<\/div>
Credit: Depositphotos<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Indonesia has blocked the online prediction market Polymarket, just days after the site set up a betting market on whether President Prabowo Subianto would be removed from office before the end of his term.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, the Communications and Digital Ministry said that it had restricted access to the platform, which constituted a form of unregulated online gambling, the Jakarta Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will not provide space for any form of online gambling in Indonesia,\u201d Alexander Sabar, the director general of digital space supervision at the Ministry, said in a statement. He said that Polymarket and similar prediction markets \u201ccontain elements of monetary betting and speculation over uncertain events, making them violate prevailing laws and regulations in Indonesia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabar added that the ban was imposed in order to protect citizens, referencing similar bans by authorities in Singapore, Brazil, and India.<\/p>\n

Gambling is not legal in Indonesia, but online gambling sites, many of them based offshore, have become a serious problem in recent years. Indonesians reportedly lost<\/a> an estimated 327 trillion rupiah ($18.4 billion) gambling online in 2023, and the authorities have struggled to block access to the sites.<\/p>\n

Polymarket attracted attention on social media in Indonesia last week after it began offering a prediction market<\/a> on when Prabowo would be \u201cout \u200bas president.\u201d As of press time, the site had taken $51,530 in bets on the question, and predicts there is an 11 percent chance he will not survive the year. Prabowo took office in October 2024, and his presidential term expires in 2029.<\/p>\n

The prediction market on Prabowo\u2019s departure seems to have been prompted by his announcement of a major plan<\/a> for the government to take control of the country\u2019s major commodities exports, in a bid to boost government revenue. The plan has rattled international investors, many of whom are already unsettled by the unpredictable and unorthodox nature of economic policy under Prabowo.<\/p>\n

Established in 2020, Polymarket allows users \u200bto trade on the outcome of \u200bfuture events, with prices reflecting the perceived \u2060probability of those outcomes. The site and its various clones have attracted considerable controversy.<\/p>\n

The site\u2019s cryptocurrency-based betting model often violates local online gambling laws and financial regulations, but the concerns go further than that. Among the main worries is that gamblers on Polymarket could impact or manipulate<\/a> larger financial markets. There have also been suspected cases of insider trading, in which government officials have taken advantage of their access to confidential information to secure windfalls on prediction markets. For instance, nine connected Polymarket accounts were recently reported to have earned<\/a> more than $2.4 million betting on the timing of U.S. military actions in the Middle East, with a scarcely believable win rate of 98 percent.<\/p>\n

For these reasons, more than 30 other countries have banned Polymarket<\/a> so far. Indonesia has become the second site in Southeast Asia to do so, after Singapore added the site<\/a> to the Gambling Regulatory Authority blacklist in January 2025, as part of a crackdown on unlicensed online gambling. The site is also unavailable in Myanmar<\/a> due to the current U.S. sanctions on the country.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit: Depositphotos Indonesia has blocked the online prediction market Polymarket, just days after the site set up a betting market on whether President Prabowo Subianto would be removed from office before the end of his term. In a statement on Friday, the Communications and Digital Ministry said that it had restricted access to the platform, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIndonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Credit: Depositphotos Indonesia has blocked the online prediction market Polymarket, just days after the site set up a betting market on whether President Prabowo Subianto would be removed from office before the end of his term. In a statement on Friday, the Communications and Digital Ministry said that it had restricted access to the platform, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Asia Newscast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ANC News Desk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ANC News Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ANC News Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c9f588ee00d3b2b92133babac793e30\"},\"headline\":\"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776\"},\"wordCount\":523,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776\",\"name\":\"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?p=776#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Asia Newscast\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Asia Newscast\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/anc-logo-v3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/anc-logo-v3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"Asia Newscast\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c9f588ee00d3b2b92133babac793e30\",\"name\":\"ANC News Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ANC News Desk\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/asianewscast.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.asianewscast.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast","og_description":"Credit: Depositphotos Indonesia has blocked the online prediction market Polymarket, just days after the site set up a betting market on whether President Prabowo Subianto would be removed from office before the end of his term. In a statement on Friday, the Communications and Digital Ministry said that it had restricted access to the platform, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776","og_site_name":"Asia Newscast","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ANC News Desk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ANC News Desk","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776"},"author":{"name":"ANC News Desk","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c9f588ee00d3b2b92133babac793e30"},"headline":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster","datePublished":"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776"},"wordCount":523,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776","url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776","name":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster - Asia Newscast","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-27T03:32:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thediplomat_2026-01-01-000311-JiKxwm.jpg","width":600,"height":360},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=776#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Indonesia Bans Polymarket After Site Offers Bets on President\u2019s Ouster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/","name":"Asia Newscast","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#organization","name":"Asia Newscast","url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/anc-logo-v3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/anc-logo-v3.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"Asia Newscast"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c9f588ee00d3b2b92133babac793e30","name":"ANC News Desk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77de746d543b5ff4f56d09fd6ad80cbe60a27662c69f5f6c30f6ef847060400f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ANC News Desk"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/asianewscast.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}