This Global Trends flash discusses Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDP Law), which was enacted back in 2022, and its requirement for the creation of a Personal Data Protection Agency (PDPA). The PDPA, as an Indonesian government organ, will have substantial authority to oversee, implement and enforce the new law. However, the PDPA is yet to be established, casting some uncertainty on the law’s short-term enforcement.

According to a recently updated Global Trends benchmark, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are at the earliest stages of 5G deployment, especially when compared with other parts of the world. However, 5G plans and related efforts are underway in the region. 5G is currently available in parts of 11 African countries out of 20 covered in this research.

The Competition Commission of South Africa (CC) is conducting an inquiry into potential anti-competitive practices in the digital and media landscape, focusing on large tech platforms. The results of this inquiry, the second under the Competition Act of 1998, are expected by May 2025. This Global Trends flash discusses the scope of the inquiry and what it will evaluate.

This Global Trends flash discusses why the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information, Kominfo, is keeping Chinese online shopping platform Temu off the Indonesian e-commerce market. Komifo announced the measure in October 2024, citing Temu’s non-compliance with local regulations, as it ordered Apple and Google to remove the Temu app from their respective app stores in Indonesia. Created by the Chinese online marketplace company Pinduoduo in 2022, Temu has gained favour among consumers, globally, due to its low prices and wide range of product offerings. Concerns over Temu have also emerged in other parts of the world.

At the United Nations’ Summit of the Future in New York city, Rwanda and Singapore launched the ‘AI Playbook for Small States’, a strategic guide to help smaller countries tackle the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. This Global Trends Flash explains how this strategic guide addresses the unique obstacles small states face in AI adoption and development. These include limited resources, talent shortages, and a lack of expertise, which hinder the ability of smaller countries to fully leverage the benefits of AI.

The Indian government proposed two new regulations, one for telecoms cybersecurity and another for critical telecoms infrastructure, as part of a revised cybersecurity framework under India’s Telecommunications Act 2023. The new draft rules focus on risk management and aim to protect telecoms networks, equipment and users against fraudulent activities and security incidents. This Global Trends Flash summarises the context and the key points of the proposed rules. If approved, these rules will give new supervisory powers to the government over the protection, management, and use of telecoms networks, services and equipment in India.