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Indonesia set to protect small traders as Widodo says social media ‘not a platform for business’
- President Joko Widodo says technology should ‘not kill existing economies’ in a comment believed to be referring to apps like TikTok
- Jakarta is working to ban online purchases of imported goods worth less than US$100 each to protect small local businesses
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Indonesia is set to issue a regulation to manage social media’s growing presence in the country’s e-commerce market on Tuesday, President Joko Widodo said, as concerns rise that apps like TikTok pose a threat to the country’s domestic and offline businesses.
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“We just ... decided on the use of social media for e-commerce. Tomorrow it will perhaps come out,” Widodo said in a streamed video address on Monday.
“What the people are expecting is that the advancement of technology can create new economic potential, not kill existing economies,” he added.
Currently, trade regulations in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy do not specifically cover direct transactions on social media.
While he did not mention any specific companies during Monday’s address, Widodo spoke more directly about the impact of social media giants like TikTok on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) during a trip to East Kalimantan over the weekend.
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“This [social commerce] has affected the production of MSMEs, of small businesses and also of [conventional] markets,” he said. “TikTok should only be a social media platform and not a medium for [conducting] business.”
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