TikTok says live feature temporarily suspended in Indonesia over protests

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Social media platform TikTok announced on Saturday that it has temporarily suspended its live feature in Indonesia for "a few days" because of violent protests after the death of a man hit by a police vehicle.

"Due to escalating violence during protests in Indonesia, we have voluntarily introduced additional safeguards to keep TikTok a safe and civil space," a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.

"Out of an abundance of caution, TikTok LIVE is temporarily suspended for a few days in Indonesia."

Southeast Asia's biggest economy was rocked by protests in major cities on Friday, including capital Jakarta and the eastern city of Makassar where a blaze at a local council building killed three people.

Protests continued on Saturday in Surabaya city on main island Java, as well as on the islands of Bali and Lombok.

The video-sharing app said it would continue to monitor the situation closely.

Indonesia has one of the world's biggest audiences on TikTok, with more than 100 million users.

In some videos of the protests posted on the service on Saturday, users complained they could not use the live feature.