Jakarta. The government is set to introduce a regulation prohibiting tech giants from conducting e-commerce activities on their social media platforms due to concerns over monopolistic practices, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Saturday.

A draft of this regulation is currently being finalized by an inter-ministerial team, with the Trade Ministry overseeing its completion.

"It’s currently in the finalization phase at the Trade Ministry because other ministries have completed their tasks. So, we just need to wait for the official release," Jokowi said during a visit to North Penajam Paser Regency in East Kalimantan.

This regulation aims to safeguard Indonesia's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from unfair competition posed by tech giants operating in the country.

"We are aware of the impact on our MSMEs and markets. In some cases, our markets have been affected by extensive trade activities on platforms initially registered as social media sites," the president said, refraining from naming specific platforms.

Earlier this month, Cooperative and MSME Minister Teten Masduki indicated that the Indonesian government intends to follow the example of India and the United States in preventing social media platform TikTok from participating in e-commerce within the nation.

TikTok possesses its own digital payment system and logistical infrastructure. Allowing it to operate in e-commerce could potentially harm local businesses, according to Teten.

"Both India and the United States have already banned TikTok from running both social media and e-commerce businesses concurrently. In Indonesia, TikTok currently has the freedom to engage in both activities," Teten noted.

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