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Jofie Yordan · · 5 min readTikTok Shop ban in Indonesia: Who is it really protecting?
A day after Indonesian regulators announced on September 27 new rules potentially prohibiting TikTok Shop, the Tanah Abang market in Jakarta remained deserted as usual.
The textile market has played a central role in this saga, with traders protesting for months and calling on the government to shut down TikTok’s ecommerce arm.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
That outcome is now almost a reality, but many traders like 46-year-old Safrizal are skeptical. Sales were already going down before TikTok Shop launched in 2021, and the market is unlikely to bounce back anytime soon, says the merchant, who asked to be identified only by his first name.
Hasto Suprayogo, a Jakarta-based political consultant, believes TikTok was caught off guard by the government’s swift response to public pressure. Top executives from the short-video app’s Singapore headquarters have reportedly gone to Indonesia to try to reverse course.
In a media statement, a TikTok Indonesia spokesperson said the company “will be pursuing a constructive path forward” in the country.
But is it too little too late? And who stands to gain from this regulatory hurdle?
The fallout
The first signs of trouble began emerging in July with Project S, which refers to TikTok’s efforts to sell its own product within the app.
While there was no indication that Project S would enter Indonesia, the positive momentum from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew‘s visit to Jakarta a month earlier eventually evaporated.
Since then, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and numerous other Indonesian officials have been openly criticizing TikTok Shop in public. These accusations include alleged monopolistic practices and predatory pricing as well as claims that algorithms favor certain sellers and that the platform is flooded with goods from China.
President Jokowi / Photo credit: Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia
Mainstream media in Indonesia have been actively covering TikTok-related issues, sparking heated online debates in the lead-up to the ban, which was announced last week.
With the government giving TikTok only one week to remove the shopping feature from its app and to establish a new business entity, the company is on the clock in Indonesia.
Protecting whom?
Who stands to gain?
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The country’s ecommerce ecosystem is pondering its next moves in the aftermath of this regulatory setback.
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