The government of Indonesia has requested Apple to remove the Temu app from the App Store.
Temu is a Chinese retail company specializing in online shopping. Due to its low price of goods, the government thought it would harm small businesses. The request extended to Google as well, pleading with both firms to block the app so Indonesians would not be able to download them. Specifically, the requests came from ministers as a preemptive strike to keep medium-sized and small businesses from losing money, despite records showing no transactions made on the app.
Budi Arie Setiadi, communications minister, said that Temu is ‘unhealthy competition’ and that they are protecting e-commerce, particularly small and medium enterprises, and ‘millions we must protect.’ Apple and Google have not released a response yet, and Temu remains available to download on the App Store and Play Store. The online shopping app Shein is also receiving the same treatment.
