Indonesia lifts TikTok licence suspension after app shares data

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.Indonesia has reinstated TikTok’s working licence after the video-sharing platform complied with authorities calls for to share knowledge on livestreaming throughout current protests within the nation. The transfer got here simply in the future after President Prabowo Subianto’s administration had suspended TikTok’s licence over the platform’s preliminary refusal to adjust to the request for knowledge, citing inner insurance policies.Indonesia is TikTok’s second-largest market after the US, with an estimated 150mn customers.TikTok disclosed the information in a letter dated Friday, the identical day because the suspension, Alexander Sabar, a director-general on the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs, mentioned in a press release late on Saturday.“TikTok has submitted the requested knowledge concerning site visitors escalation and TikTok Reside monetisation actions through the interval of August 25-30, 2025, through an official letter dated October 3, 2025,” Alexander mentioned.TikTok, which is owned by Chinese language tech group ByteDance, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Following the announcement of the suspension on Friday, TikTok had mentioned it was working carefully with the ministry to handle the matter “constructively.”The app was accessible in Indonesia regardless of the suspension of the licence.TikTok was extensively used throughout nationwide protests in late August over rising inequality in south-east Asia’s largest economic system.The demonstrations, which have been initially sparked by revelations of lavish housing allowances for lawmakers, escalated into essentially the most violent unrest within the nation in many years following the demise of Affan Kurniawan, a bike taxi driver who was run over by an armoured police automobile.No less than 10 individuals have been killed at protests throughout the nation, regional parliament buildings have been torched and the houses of lawmakers and the previous finance minister have been looted.RecommendedAs the protests intensified, TikTok mentioned it was “voluntarily” suspending its reside characteristic for just a few days to take care of “a protected and civil area” on the platform.The suspension had additionally raised issues about restraints on civic area underneath Prabowo, a former basic who has raised the army’s profile as he has consolidated energy over the previous yr. Indonesia stays an essential marketplace for TikTok, regardless of regulatory hurdles lately.In 2023, the app was compelled to close down its ecommerce characteristic after the federal government of then-president Joko Widodo banned on-line purchasing options on social media, citing the necessity to shield smaller companies. TikTok then purchased a 75 per cent stake in Tokopedia, the nation’s largest ecommerce participant, which it merged with its purchasing platforms.