Indonesia suspends TikTok’s license as talk of social media biometric scans gathers steam

Indonesia has suspended TikTok’s registration status as an electronic system provider. According to reports, the social media app failed to hand over all data relating to the use of its live stream feature.

Indonesian officials claim that TikTok has not been cooperating with regulators since it began an inquisition into protests that rocked the world’s third-largest democracy over exorbitant lawmaker allowances and police brutality from late August to September. 

TikTok says that it temporarily suspended its live feature during the protests with the intent to “keep TikTok a safe and civil space”.

However, according to Alexander Sabar, an official at Indonesia’s communications and digital ministry, some accounts with ties to online gambling activities used TikTok’s live stream feature during recent national protests and monetized it.

TikTok fails to cooperate with Indonesia’s regulators

Alexander Sabar said the government has requested the company’s traffic, streaming, and monetization data. But the company, owned by China’s ByteDance, only provided partial data. According to TikTok, its internal procedures have limited its reponse. 

“So the communications and digital ministry deemed TikTok to have violated its obligations as a private electronic provider”, and suspended its registration, he said.

According to Indonesia’s regulations regarding the list, every company that has signed up to Indonesia’s licensing rules must hand over its data to the government for supervision, or risk being blocked.

The social media app is still accessible to users on Friday. Therefore, it is unclear if access to TikTok in Indonesia was fully blocked. TikTok has more than 100 million accounts based in Indonesia. 

Indonesia proposes stricter rules on social media platforms

A lawmaker from the Islamic-leaning National Awakening Party raised the alarm that online fraud needs to be stopped. This occurred during a parliamentary hearing featuring representatives from Google, Meta, and TikTok in July. It gained traction last month after Bambang Haryadi, a senior figure in President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra party, publicly endorsed the idea.

Bambang Haryadi said, “We believe that in the future, an integrated single account is also needed, so that each citizen can only have one account on each social media platform.” He was concerned by the rise of online fraud and political manipulation by anonymous users known in Indonesia as “buzzers.”

“This is not limiting democracy, but we must make it clear that in the future, freedom of using social media will not be used as a means to carry out negative framing of individuals or institutions,” Bambang added.

To that end, he proposed that the only way to prevent the proliferation of fake accounts is to require strict evaluation and verification to prevent other people’s data from being used to create anonymous accounts.

The proposal did not fall on deaf ears. Officials seem keen on the idea. Nezar Patria, Vice Minister of Communications, stated that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs is reviewing the plan as a tool to curb online fraud.

The ministry is considering asking for a face or fingerprint scan as a prerequisite for account registration on social media platforms. The ministry said that this tool can encourage responsibility and curb abuse.

However, the biometric verification talk is not going down well with digital rights advocates. They warn that the move could stifle dissent, endanger privacy and undermine civil liberties in the world’s third-largest democracy. Analysts say the plan reflects a growing appetite among Indonesia’s political elite for greater control over the digital sphere, especially ahead of a changing political landscape and rising online activism among the youth.

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