A bipartisan consensus in the U.S. House of Representatives culminated in the passage of legislation in that, if also passed by the Senate and signed into law by the president, would require the Beijing-based company, ByteDance, to either divest from its U.S.-based subsidiary – TikTok – or have it be removed from the U.S. market … Read more
GoTo, the Indonesian tech giant that owns ride-hailing and delivery service Go-Jek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia, had an eventful 2023. In June, there was a management shake-up, with Patrick Walujo replacing Andre Soelistyo as president director (Soelistyo now holds a position on the Board of Commissioners). Then in December, GoTo reached a deal with TikTok, … Read more
If some U.S. lawmakers have their way, the United States and China could end up with something in common: TikTok might not be available in either country. The House on Wednesday approved a bill requiring the Beijing-based company ByteDance to sell its subsidiary, TikTok, or face a nationwide ban. It’s unclear if the bill will … Read more
Over the past ten years, China has emerged as a significant foreign investor in Indonesia. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, according to data from the Ministry of Investment, Chinese companies invested $20.9 billion across 9,080 projects in the country. Chinese investments in Indonesia can be categorized into two distinct groups. The first are those of … Read more
On Tuesday, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced that he had signed a regulation requiring digital platforms to pay media outlets that provide them with content. In announcing the President’s Decree on Publisher’s Rights, the Indonesian leader said that the rules were designed to “ensure a fair cooperation between media and digital platforms.” “The government … Read more
Advertisement Malaysia’s communications regulator will issue a warning to social media firms TikTok and Meta for allegedly blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms, the country’s communications minister said yesterday. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that social media platforms were restricting pro-Palestinian content, and that many parties within Malaysia … Read more
Advertisement As China modernizes, one of the constant fears of the country’s leadership and academia has been the middle income trap. Originally introduced by World Bank economists Indermit Gill and Homi Kharas, this trap occurs when a country’s income rises to the point where its labor costs make exports uncompetitive when compared to low income … Read more
ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia The Chinese-owned short video app has hit a number of recent roadblocks in its bid to expand its Southeast Asian operations. Advertisement Yesterday, Malaysia’s government put the social media platform TikTok on notice, claiming that the company had failed to curb defamatory or misleading content in line with government requests. In a … Read more
Advertisement TikTok’s abrupt suspension of its online retail business in Indonesia last week, in order to comply with the government’s social media e-commerce ban, dealt a heavy blow to its rapidly expanding e-commerce operation. This situation is not one of governments picking losers, but rather of losers shaping policy, as declining businesses often seek to … Read more
Pacific Money | Economy | Southeast Asia The move came after the Indonesian government announced an immediate ban on commerce transactions on social media platforms. Advertisement TikTok has halted its online retail operation in Indonesia in order to comply with the country’s recent decision to ban e-commerce transactions on social media platforms. In a statement yesterday, the Chinese-owned video-sharing … Read more