When the Algorithm Chooses for Us

A young mother is searching for formula milk for her child on a marketplace. She opens the app, types in the required keywords, and within seconds various options appear with labels such as “featured product”, “best choice”, or “recommended for you”. Trusting that the digital system will help her find the most suitable product, she selects one from the top of the list.

There is nothing wrong with the transaction. The goods arrive as ordered. Payment proceeds smoothly. The consumer does not feel disadvantaged. Yet there is one thing she never actually knows. Why did that product appear first compared to others? Was it because of better quality? Because it was the most purchased? Or because it was part of a promotion prioritised by the system?

Questions like this may sound simple. However, it is precisely here that a new challenge for consumer protection in the digital era lies. Today’s consumers do not only deal with sellers and products, but also with algorithms that work behind the scenes, helping to determine what information they see, know, and ultimately choose.

This change has taken place so rapidly that it often goes unnoticed. In the past, consumers went to a shop, saw the available goods directly, compared choices on the shelf, and spoke with the seller. Now, part of that process has been replaced by a digital system that works automatically. Technology has certainly made things easier. Yet that ease also raises new questions about how consumer decisions are shaped.

Amidst these developments, the government issued Minister of Trade Regulation Number 19 of 2026 concerning the Organisation of Business Trade Through Electronic Systems. This regulation aims to structure the increasingly complex digital trade ecosystem while strengthening protection for consumers, businesses, and domestic products.

One provision that has drawn attention is Article 47, which regulates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in electronic commerce. Under this provision, businesses utilising AI are required to inform consumers, ensure the information generated can be accounted for, provide a complaint mechanism, and safeguard consumer protection and personal data. This provision indicates that the government is beginning to recognise that the development of digital trade cannot be separated from the use of AI technology.

This step deserves appreciation. Amidst rapid technological advancement, the state is showing its presence to ensure that innovation proceeds alongside public protection. However, as with any policy born in a situation of rapid change, this regulation also opens up space for discussion about the consumer protection challenges that will emerge in the future.

Article 47 requires businesses to inform consumers about the use of AI. This provision is important because it provides basic transparency regarding the technology used in the digital trade process. However, there is a difference between knowing that AI is used and understanding how AI influences the decisions we make.

In daily practice, consumers may know that a recommendation is generated by an automated system. Yet they still do not understand why a particular product was recommended to them. They do not know whether the product was selected because of its quality, its popularity, its suitability to the user’s needs, or because of certain commercial factors.

For some people, this issue may not seem important. As long as the goods arrive at their home and the transaction goes smoothly, the matter is considered settled. But in the digital world, consumer protection is no longer solely about the final outcome of a transaction. It also concerns how the choice was formed from the very beginning.

In many situations, the information a consumer receives becomes the primary basis for making a decision. When that information is selected, arranged, and prioritised by a system the user does not understand, a new information asymmetry emerges. The platform understands consumer behaviour in great detail, while the consumer does not understand how the system shapes the digital experience they undergo.

This is where consumer protection enters new territory that has not yet been widely discussed in Indonesia’s digital trade regulations.