According to Indonesia's minister for small-medium enterprises (SMEs), Teten Masduki, TikTok continues to disregard Indonesia's prohibition on in-app transactions. The minister stated, "The trade minister has to reprimand TikTok so that it complies with the regulation, if not then ... the government's authority is undermined."

This comes after social media company gained control of the country's largest e-commerce platform, Tokopedia, at$840 million, in order to relaunch its online shopping operations after a ban was imposed last year. TikTok Shop, the e-commerce service of the company, was forced to shut down in Indonesia due to the country's ban on social media platform-based online shopping in the country's attempt to safeguard the interests of smaller merchants and protect user data.

It remains to be seen how social media giant circumvents the increasing pressure to comply with legal requirements. With its 125 million user base in Indonesia, the country is an important market that can potentially generate substantial e-commerce revenue.