Accused Of Lacking Conventional Markets And MSMEs, Kominfo Monitors Trading Regulations On TikTok

Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) Usman Kansong and other speakers in an online polemic discussion in Jakarta, Saturday (16/9/2023). ANTARA/Imatul Silfia

JAKARTA - TikTok Shop has gone viral as one of the causes of the loss of sales turnover in conventional and umkm markets. But so far, the Ministry of Communication and Information has not taken action to block trading through live shopping on TikTok.

Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) Usman Kansong said his party was still monitoring the development of regulations regarding trade on the TikTok social media platform.

"If later there are new rules, such as those that are being discussed, that they must separate social media from e-commerce, we follow those rules and take the necessary steps according to these regulations," said Usman in an online discussion monitored in Jakarta, Saturday.

He explained that the provisions from the Ministry of Communication and Information involved two considerations, namely the nature of the content and registration provisions.

The Ministry of Communication and Information will block if the content displayed is negative and violates the rules.

In the context of trading in social commerce, the Ministry of Communication and Information can take blocking action if the products sold are prohibited items.

However, if this condition is not fulfilled, the Ministry of Communication and Information cannot block it.

The next condition is the provisions regarding the registration of electronic system operators (PSE). If the regulation regulates that social media platforms that want to present the social commerce feature must register PSE, the Ministry of Communication and Information can block it when a violation occurs. Meanwhile, if the regulation has not reached that side, then the Ministry of Communication and Information cannot block it.

However, Usman said that in looking at the problem of TikTok's live shopping, it is necessary to consider various perspectives, especially in terms of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the e-commerce industry.

According to him, what needs to be paid attention is how regulations are present to regulate, provide protection to MSMEs, and protect the e-commerce industry.

"So, the government bridges so that no one is harmed," he said, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, September 16.

The government is processing the harmonization of the revision of the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 50 of 2020 related to digital trade.

One of the issues that is of concern to the revision of the regulation is the presence of TikTok as a social commerce which is feared to cause losses to MSMEs.

The reason is, the selling price offered on the platform is very cheap, so it has the potential to lead to predatory pricing or the practice of selling goods below the capital price.