Many E-Commerces Have Video Sharing Features And Photos Similar To Social Media, Is It Violating?

JAKARTA - Approaching the deadline set by the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) until April 2024, it is reported that the integration process between TikTok and Tokopedia is almost complete.

"It is certain that at one point there will be an application that will start combining various features or be hybrid. So I was not surprised when TikTok wanted to acquire Tokopedia and integrate its services into the TikTok application," said Director of Digital Economy at CelIOS, Nailul Huda, quoted Wednesday 27 March.

According to Huda, Tokopedia and TikTok should not violate the rules set by the Ministry of Trade.

"Tokopedia already has a license for the market loka where it is required at Permendag 31 of 2023. Then TikTok also has a license for social media. So that nothing is actually a problem when they already have a license for both," explained Huda.

Regarding the government's response, Huda highlighted various arguments that arose regarding Permendag 31 from the government side itself.

"We can't curb innovation, he has to be social media, he has to have a market location and so on. We see that in the future there will be more social media applications that will experience changes like this," he said.

Huda also explained that the existing regulations should have room to move because in the future there will definitely be a 'gray' room that has not been regulated in the existing regulations.

"Don't forget that in some e-commerce, many also have social media features for sharing videos and for live streaming on their platforms. This is called a gray space," added Huda.

On the same occasion, Heru Sutadi as Executive Director of the Indonesia ICT Institute also explained that many e-commerce platforms also have features similar to social media.

"There must be an equal level playing field with existing e-commerce players. With the presence of Permendag 31, the rules should be clearer. If we look at Tokopedia and TikTok, we try to follow the existing rules. We must continue to monitor this," explained Heru.

Heru emphasized that evaluating platform compliance with Permendag 31 is very important to pay attention to user data security.

"I think it's in accordance with the rules. What is certain is that they will separate the e-commerce and social media. For example, they will use TikTok to shop, they will definitely be transferred to Tokopedia. From some of the trials we conducted, the delivery and payments have been through Tokopedia as the organizer of the e-commerce," said Heru.

On the other hand, regarding concerns about local MSMEs because of predatory pricing or products sold below market prices, Heru explained, there needs to be supervision and jointly ensure that the products sold are quality products and also competitive prices.

"So it's not too cheap and predatory pricing. If it is confirmed now, the goods sold are almost the same as those sold on the Tokopedia platform. Previously, with the presence of TikTok Shop, many MSMEs also developed. We hope that with this integration and development more MSMEs will enter the digital realm and contribute to the country's economy," concluded Heru.