"We have taken down TEMU as a quick response to the concerns voiced by members of the public, especially those running MSMEs," Kominfo Minister Budi Arie Setiadi remarked in his office in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He underscored that TEMU was not eligible to operate in Indonesia as it was not registered as an electronic system provider, thereby inconsistent with Kominfo Minister's Regulation No. 5 of 2020.
Setiadi then noted that the decision to block TEMU was driven by the increasingly massive threats posed by foreign products on domestic MSMEs through online and offline means.
The minister further explained that the measure was also taken to follow up on a letter received from Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Teten Masduki, which requested protection for MSMEs from TEMU's problematic business model.
"Products of local MSMEs need to be protected by the government from foreign marketplaces that offer foreign products directly from their factories, consequently making them much cheaper. This is an unhealthy competition that can threaten the sustainability of our MSMEs," he pointed out.
The China-based e-commerce platform was reported to frequently send goods that do not meet quality standards, with a poor level of durability.
Moreover, in 2023, Google suspended Pinduoduo, a shopping app sharing a parent company with TEMU, over suspected malware.
For now, TEMU can still be found and downloaded in Indonesia via the Google Play Store or its website. However, users cannot choose Indonesia as the shipping destination country in the settings of the app.
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Translator: Livia K, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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