Jakarta, Indonesia – The Indonesian government has officially prohibited the use of social media for e-commerce transactions, a move that was previously hinted by President Joko Widodo several days ago.
For the government, the move is aimed at quashing e-commerce sellers that are purportedly abusing pricing tiers on social media to promote their products, a move that officials say ‘kills’ offline merchants.
“What the people are expecting is that the advancement of technology can create new economic potential, not kill existing economies,” President Widodo previously said.
In a recent announcement, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has noted that social media can be only used to promote things, not use it as an avenue for online transactions.
“Social commerce is only allowed to facilitate the promotion of goods or services, not direct transactions. Direct payment is no longer allowed, it is only allowed for promotion,” he said.
Several Indonesian officials have said that TikTok is one of these platforms where social e-commerce is mostly practiced.
Previously, TikTok Indonesia clarified that its latest shop-centric initiative, ‘Project S’, will never be launched in the market, and that they do not intend to become a retailer or wholesaler that will compete with sellers in Indonesia.
