A day after Indonesia suspended TikTok’s operating license in the country, it swiftly revoked the suspension after the social media company gave the government what it wanted: data from livestreaming activity during nationwide anti-government protests in August.
Alexander Sabar, director general of digital space supervision from Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), said in a statement Saturday that TikTok “has submitted the requested data regarding traffic escalation and TikTok Live monetization activities” and that the country in turn “has terminated the temporary suspension” of the Chinese-owned platform.
The license suspension raised concerns on social media about a clampdown on free speech, not helped by President Prabowo Subianto’s associations with Indonesia’s pre-democratic past, during which he was a general accused of human rights abuses and war crimes.
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Protests throughout the year have rebuked Prabowo’s domestic policies, which have been perceived to favor Indonesia’s political elite. Ten people died in the recent protests, and TikTok, which has more than 100 million accounts in Indonesia, suspended its livestreaming feature in the country for a few days amid the violence to keep the platform “a safe and civil space.”
Here’s what to know.
Why was TikTok’s operating license suspended?
The license suspension stems from allegations that TikTok’s livestreaming feature was being monetized during the protests. In early September, Jakarta police alleged that some TikTok users purposefully broadcast live during the violence to entice viewers into giving them gifts or virtual prizes that can be exchanged for cash.
Alexander, the Komdigi official, said that because of the alleged monetization of livestreams from accounts “suspected of online gambling activities,” the ministry requested from TikTok data on traffic, livestreaming, and monetization—including the number and value of gifts given. Alexander said TikTok was summoned on Sept. 16 to clarify, and that the social media company was given a Sept. 23 deadline to submit the data.
TikTok, however, responded on Sept. 23 that it has internal policies and regulations on handling data that prevented it from granting the Indonesian authorities’ request. Since TikTok failed to comply, Komdigi decided that TikTok “violated its obligations” as a private Electronic Service Provider and suspended the license. Alexander said that the ministry was “committed to upholding national legal sovereignty in digital governance, including providing protection for users, particularly vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents, from the potential misuse of digital features for illegal activities.”
The suspension, however, was an administrative one and did not amount to the app’s shutdown, Alexander told Bloomberg.
With more than 100 million users, TikTok has provided an economic lifeline for many in Indonesia, particularly those using TikTok Shop or TikTok Live for e-commerce. But Indonesia’s House of Representatives said that the license suspension would not cause severe impact on such users.
In a statement to the media on the license suspension, TikTok said that it “respects the laws and regulations” in countries that it operates in and that it was working with the ministry “to resolve this issue constructively.”
Why did a suspension cause concern?
Digital repression has been an ongoing concern in Indonesia and in other countries facing domestic upheaval, such as Nepal, where a social-media shutdown last month fueled protests that eventually toppled the government. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2021 that the government may block and throttle the country’s internet during times of social unrest.
Last month, digital rights group Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) raised concerns that social media companies in Indonesia have imposed “heavy restrictions and excessive content moderation” in light of the country’s protests, and it accused Meta—Facebook’s parent company—of taking down protest-related content on its platforms.
The group also slammed how authorities arrested some social media users and activists for purportedly inciting violence.
Digital rights advocates have also pushed back against a proposal to limit a person to only one social media account per platform, ostensibly as a means to crack down on disinformation. The proposal gained traction in September, but critics said it could curtail democracy, making dissenters easily identifiable and persecuted.
“The government will request personal data, whether it’s a national identification number or other personal data, so our social media activity can be tracked,” Hafizh Nabiyyin, head of SAFEnet’s freedom of expression division, said at the time to the South China Morning Post. “Ultimately, this privacy violation will impact our freedom of expression.”
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