TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
TikTok to stop sales in Indonesia after social commerce ban
The new regulation is yet another setback for TikTok, which has faced intense scrutiny in the United States and other nations in recent months over users' data security and the company's alleged ties to Beijing.
Change Size
Screened: A Jakarta resident watches a live stream of a seller offering her products on TikTok on Sept. 26, 2023. Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has revised a ministerial regulation that bans transactions on social media. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
S
hort video app TikTok said it will stop transactions on its app in Indonesia from Wednesday after the government banned direct sales on social media platforms last week to protect millions of small businesses.
The new regulation is yet another setback for TikTok, which has faced intense scrutiny in the United States and other nations in recent months over users' data security and the company's alleged ties to Beijing.
Indonesia is one of the world's biggest markets for TikTok Shop and was the first to pilot the app's e-commerce arm, but the Chinese-owned app said it would comply with the new regulation from Wednesday evening.
"Our priority is to remain compliant with local laws and regulations," TikTok Indonesia said in a statement on Tuesday.
"As such, we will no longer facilitate e-commerce transactions in TikTok Shop Indonesia," it said.
Calls have grown in recent months for a regulation governing social media and e-commerce, with offline sellers seeing their livelihoods threatened by the sale of cheaper products on TikTok Shop and other platforms.
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said firms who did not comply with the ban on goods transactions would first be warned and then lose their license to operate in Indonesia.
"E-commerce cannot become social media. It is separated," he told reporters last week.
Zulkifli said social media companies could advertise products but not facilitate transactions for them on their platforms, saying the decision was taken to protect small- and medium-sized businesses.
While stressing it would respect local laws, TikTok Indonesia also criticised the ban by saying it would harm millions of Indonesian sellers who used the app.
Indonesia's e-commerce market is dominated by platforms such as Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada but TikTok Shop gained a significant market share since launching in 2021.
Indonesia, with 125 million users, is TikTok's second-largest global market after the United States, according to company figures.
TikTok's chief executive Shou Zi Chew visited Jakarta in June, pledging to pour billions of dollars into Southeast Asia in the years ahead.
