Indonesia reinstates TikTok’s license two days after suspension

Indonesia has reinstated TikTok’s operating license just two days after suspending it, ending a brief standoff between the social media platform and Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs stated that it lifted the suspension after TikTok complied with its demand to provide data on user activity, including traffic and monetization on TikTok Live, during protests that took place between August 25 and 30.

“As the obligations are met, the ministry ends the license suspension,” Alexander Sabar, a director general at the ministry, said in a statement. As Cryptopolitan reported, the government had initially suspended the social media platform’s license, citing its failure to meet its obligations as a private electronic system operator.

Before the suspension, TikTok said it was cooperating with the Indonesian government to “resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Regulatory tensions resurface in Indonesia

The government first suspended TikTok’s local license on October 3, after the company reportedly failed to provide it with the complete data on livestream traffic during a week of demonstrations triggered by the death of a delivery driver. 

TikTok had said its internal policies limited the level of user data it could share.

According to officials, the ministry first wrote to TikTok on September 23, demanding the data but was not satisfied with TikTok’s response. 

As the protests continued, TikTok paused its live-streaming feature on August 30, before resuming the service several days later when tensions eased.

The suspension showed that Indonesia was serious about enforcing the regulations it has put in place with regards to major digital platforms. The local law requires all online platforms, from social media to e-commerce, to register locally and provide user data to regulators on request. Those that fail to comply risk facing fines, access restrictions, or like in TikTok’s case, license suspensions.

Critics say the policy gives the government broad discretion to demand information from tech firms and risks undermining data privacy and freedom of expression.

Indonesia is a major market for TikTok’s regional ambitions

Indonesia is an important market for TikTok. The country is one of the app’s largest markets globally, with tens of millions of daily users and a fast-growing base of creators and small businesses that depend on TikTok for reach and sales.

TikTok Shop, the company’s e-commerce arm, has also flourished in Indonesia, making the country one of its biggest contributors to global gross merchandise value. 

The platform briefly faced a separate government ban on in-app shopping in 2023 over concerns about unfair competition with local merchants, before being allowed to resume after separating its social media and retail operations. The restart also featured a merger with local e-commerce platform, Tokopedia.

TikTok’s willingness to comply with the latest request, despite earlier hesitation, reflects both the importance of the Indonesian market and the cost of losing regulatory goodwill. 

Growing scrutiny of global platforms

Indonesia’s decision comes amid an increasing push across Southeast Asia to increase oversight of digital platforms, especially those owned by foreign firms. Governments in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have introduced or proposed similar data-sharing and content-regulation requirements, citing national security and social stability concerns.

For TikTok, whose Chinese ownership has already caused it many headaches in the US and Europe, the Indonesian episode highlights the delicate balancing act between complying with local laws and maintaining global standards on user data protection.

China-based ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, has consistently stated that it stores user data regionally and maintains operational independence between its Chinese and international versions of the app. However, the Indonesian case shows how governments are increasingly willing to flex their regulatory muscle, especially when social media activity intersects with public unrest.

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