JAKARTA (Reuters) – Short video app TikTok will from Wednesday halt transactions on its platform in Indonesia following the country’s new ban on e-commerce trade on social media, it said on Tuesday.
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, added in a statement that it would coordinate with Indonesia’s government regarding its future plans.
“Our priority is to remain compliant with local laws and regulations. As such, we will no longer facilitate e-commerce transactions in TikTok Shop Indonesia,” the company said.
The government has said the ban, imposed last week, is aimed at protecting offline merchants and marketplaces, adding that predatory pricing on social media platforms is threatening small and medium-sized enterprises.
It was unclear from the statement whether TikTok will create a new e-commerce app, separate from its social media app.
TikTok’s decision is in line with the government’s grace period to comply with the new rule at one week, to avoid the threat of closure.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Stanley Widianto; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
