Bahlil Lahadalia, the Minister of Investment, firmly opposes granting permission to TikTok for conducting e-commerce transactions, stating that TikTok's current registration is solely for social media and not for e-commerce purposes. When asked by reporters at the Ministry of Investment on Monday, September 25, 2023, he responded, "No, I won't grant permission because their authorization is for social media only. If TikTok wants to do social commerce, then WhatsApp might as well. What kind of country do we want to become?"

Bahlil remains unconcerned about TikTok's objections to the government's new policy, as he believes TikTok has already harmed the country by engaging in business practices, whereas the government has only granted permission for it to operate as a social media platform. He remarked, "Let them leave if they want, it's fine. What's the problem? How is it harming the country? It's harming us."

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Teten Masduki, recently expressed his opposition to TikTok Shop's social commerce service. He suspected that the Chinese-origin platform had engaged in predatory pricing by selling products at significantly lower prices from abroad. As a result, local SMEs were unable to compete, leading to many businesses closing down.

On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, Teten conducted an inspection at Tanah Abang Market, the largest wholesale market in Southeast Asia, to assess the situation. He noted that there had been a more than 50 percent decline in average revenue because local products couldn't compete with cheaper imported ones.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ultimately decided to address the issue of social commerce through a revision of Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 50 of 2020 concerning Business Licensing, Advertising, Guidance, and Supervision of Business Actors in Electronic Trading Systems. Under the new regulations, the government prohibits social media platforms like TikTok from engaging in sales.

Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, announced this decision after a limited meeting with Jokowi at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday, September 25, 2023. He stated that social commerce platforms could only facilitate the promotion of goods and services but not directly conduct transactions. He added that the realms of social media and the economy needed to be separated to prevent the undue control of algorithms and the misuse of personal data for business purposes.

E-commerce expert and former Chairman of the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA), Ignatius Untung, disagreed with the ban, arguing that the government lacked complete information about social commerce. Untung asserted that the integration of social media and e-commerce by TikTok was actually beneficial for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as it allowed them to reach potential buyers without advertising expenses. "So, clearly, this policy is detrimental to MSMEs," he stated in an interview with Tempo on Monday, September 25, 2023.

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