JAKARTA—Indonesia has banned goods transactions on social media platforms in a new regulation, its trade minister said Wednesday, as Jakarta aims to rein in direct sales by major tech firms it says are harming millions of small businesses.
Government officials in recent weeks called for social media and e-commerce to be decoupled, targeting platforms they say engage in monopolistic practices that threaten offline sellers, with some specifically blaming Chinese-owned short video app TikTok.
“This trade regulation has been in force (since yesterday),” Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan told a press conference in the capital Jakarta.
He said social commerce platforms would have a week to comply with the new rule.
The regulation means social media firms will not be able to conduct direct transactions but only promote products on their platforms.
Laws in the archipelago nation did not cover direct transactions through social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook or Instagram before the new regulation.