<![CDATA[The rapid expansion of digital technology has reconfigured gambling from a place-based practice into an online activity that is accessible, anonymous, and difficult to regulate, producing distinctive socio-legal problems in Aceh, Indonesia, where Islamic law is formally enforced. This study analyses the involvement of middle-aged adults (40–60 years) in online gambling in Kemukiman Saree, Lembah Seulawah District, Aceh Besar, and examines the preventive and repressive responses that have emerged at the community level. A qualitative case study was combined with a socio-legal perspective. Primary data were gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews with village officials, community leaders, religious leaders, and middle-aged residents selected purposively; secondary data were drawn from scholarly literature, the Indonesian Criminal Code, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, and Qanun Aceh No. 6 of 2014 on Jinayat Law. The data were analysed descriptively through data reduction, data display, and verification, with source and method triangulation. The findings show that participation is driven by four mutually reinforcing conditions: economic vulnerability, the low cost of digital access, social influence within neighbourhood networks, and the need for entertainment and psychological escape. Low legal and digital literacy blurs the boundary between digital recreation and criminal conduct. Prevention operates through families, religious institutions, and village government, whereas repression relies on the parallel operation of national law and Qanun Jinayat, whose deterrent effect is amplified by social shame. The study concludes that controlling online gambling requires integrating formal legal enforcement with informal social control.]]>
