As long as it can comply with Indonesian regulations and procedures, the social media platform TikTok is free to cooperate with any e-commerce platform. The cultural point goes to sea.
Author: Li Penghui, typesetting, Li Ruizi.
This article is expected to take 4 minutes to read.
The TikTok e-commerce service, which has been pressed the "pause button" in Indonesia, seems to be about to usher in a new turnaround.
According to a speech by the local government in Indonesia, citing a speech on Tuesday, TikTok is obtaining an e-commerce license from Indonesia.
Indonesia's deputy minister Jerry Sambuaga said at a recent event that the social media platform TikTok is free to work with any e-commerce platform as long as it can comply with Indonesia's regulations and procedures.
Sambuaga noted that Indonesia has now frozen the operation of TikTok's shopping function, TikTok Shop, for violating its license to operate only as a social platform. Accordingly, Indonesia** has also promulgated the "Ministerial Regulation No. 31 of 2023**" to confirm that social platforms** in Indonesia should not combine their functions and features with those offered by e-commerce platforms.
He stressed that TikTok is currently trying to comply with the applicable rules, and that the platform should carry out its functions without ignoring Regulation 31. "Previously, TikTok didn't comply with the rules and didn't get permission [as an e-commerce platform]. However, once permitted, it (TikTok) can work with anyone, as long as it complies with the regulations and procedures applicable (in Indonesia). ”
As a background, not long ago, Indonesia's Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Teten Masduki, said in an interview with foreign media that TikTok is discussing potential partnerships with Indonesian e-commerce companies. The minister added that the social media platform has held talks with companies such as Blibli, Bukalapak, Tokopedia, etc.
Subsequently, another source reiterated the rumors - the person said that TikTok is in investment talks with Tokopedia, the e-commerce arm of Indonesian supergiant Goto, in order to "restart" its e-commerce business in Indonesia. People familiar with the matter said at the time that the investment could be completed in the coming weeks and would most likely be in the form of a joint venture rather than a direct investment. In addition, people familiar with the matter also revealed that this investment discussion also involves the two companies will jointly build a new e-commerce platform to solve the e-commerce regulatory problems currently encountered by TikTok, a social ** platform, in Indonesia.
It is worth mentioning that in response to TikTok's talks with three local e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, although none of the three parties commented on the news, Masduki said that he received the information from the e-commerce platform and not from TikTok. He later added that in his opinion, it was only a matter of time before TikTok reinstated its TikTok Shop function (i.e., its e-commerce service) in Indonesia.
According to some data, at present, in Indonesia, the monthly active users of TikTok have reached 12.5 billion. And for comparison, the country's population is more than 2700 million.