Southeast Asia is a region in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia
Singapore\sMalaysia
Vietnam\sThailand
Philippines
Myanmar
India
Greater China is a term used to describe a
Asia’s rest
World
Internet Economy & E-Commerce
Technology
Infrastructure and Real Estate
Services in the Financial Sector
Infrastructure for Social Development
The powerful internet regulator in China is in the forefront of efforts to rein in big tech.
Tony Munroe is the author of this article.
8th of July, 2021
China’s internet watchdog, which shocked investors by opening an inquiry into Didi Global two days after the ride-hailing company went public in New York, has risen to the fore of Beijing’s sweeping efforts to reign in the country’s tech sector and tighten data security measures.
President Xi Jinping established the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) in its current form in 2014, and it enforces online censorship that has tightened substantially during his reign. The agency promotes Beijing’s “internet sovereignty” policy, which keeps China’s vast online ecosystem hidden behind the country’s Great Firewall.
Its action against Didi and two other businesses that recently went public in the US was quickly followed by Beijing’s announcement that it will tighten regulations on overseas-traded Chinese companies, many of which are U.S.-listed tech companies, including cross-border data flows and security.
According to Rogier Creemers, an assistant professor of Chinese studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, there is growing skepticism of big tech’s power and influence in China, as well as abroad.
“So we’re at a position where the stars are aligned for action to be done against these firms, and then it all happens almost at the same time from all these different angles,” he said, alluding to regulatory actions.
The CAC’s move comes after a flurry of high-profile investigations and penalties levied against “platform economy” firms by various authorities since late last year, including the country’s increasingly assertive competition watchdog, the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The CAC is asserting its cybersecurity role, according to Creemers.
“Does this have anything to do with turf or substance? He stated, “It’s about both.”
A request for comment from the CAC was not immediately returned.
The CAC accused Didi of improperly collecting users’ personal data and demanded that the company stop accepting new users in China, claiming that Didi’s app “violates serious laws and regulations relevant to the collection of personal information.”
When asked about the CAC’s recent move, Wang Wenbin, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said that authorities oversee and conduct safety inspections on online platforms to reduce risk and protect national security.
“China’s policy is unaffected. We will continue to open up and support the development of internet platforms, as well as urge Chinese firms to participate in foreign exchanges and cooperation,” he said.
Powerful and occupied
The CAC looms large over China’s vast internet, issuing frequent regulatory measures and warnings.
Its public WeChat account includes summaries of events and speeches, notifications of enforcement actions, and propaganda extolling the merits of Xi and the ruling Communist Party, similar to that of other party and state institutions.
Following a CAC commitment to clean up the internet to safeguard minors and crack down on social media organizations having a “bad influence,” WeChat erased scores of LGBT accounts established by university students, claiming that some had broken rules.
Prior to the Communist Party’s 100th anniversary on July 1, the agency opened a hotline to report online remarks that insult the party and its history, promising to crack down on “historical nihilists” — individuals spreading information that contradicts sanctioned narratives.
In more mundane measures, it collaborated with other agencies in April to release standards mandating how apps must protect user privacy and personal data. In January, it polled the public on whether previous rules governing online payments, commerce, and livestreaming platforms should be updated.
According to Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-refinitiv-idUSKCN1T42AE) in 2019, that Refinitiv, the news service’s largest customer, withheld politically sensitive Reuters items from its Chinese financial customers, citing a threat from the CAC to have its service shut down.
The CAC has also been in charge of removing tens of thousands of news, social media, and gaming apps from Apple’s China app store and other local services in recent years.
A colorful past
The CAC’s early years were defined by its brash head, Lu Wei, who managed the establishment of China’s annual World Internet Conference, which has drawn global tech titans like Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai to Wuzhen, China’s eastern tourist resort.
When organizers sought agreement on a last-minute declaration on “internet sovereignty” before the inaugural 2014 summit, foreign tech corporations objected. Representatives from the industry eventually rejected to sign the pledge.
Lu notably traveled to Silicon Valley that year, when he was greeted in Mandarin by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s headquarters. The Great Firewall prohibited Facebook, as well as most other major international social networking and news sites, at the time.
Lu, who resigned unexpectedly in 2016, was purged from the Communist Party in 2018 and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2019 for accepting bribes totaling about $5 million, making him one of the most senior officials caught up in Xi’s anti-graft campaign.
Since 2018, Zhuang Rongwen, a deputy minister in China’s central propaganda department, has led the CAC. He attends the Wuzhen Internet Conference, but avoids the limelight, as do most senior Chinese bureaucrats.
Reuters
Didi, China’s cyberspace administration
Every day, you’ll receive articles like these in your email.
Sign up for The Daily Brief, our daily newsletter.
Register for the Newsletter
Related Articles
Deals with China’s Alipay and Wechat restrict new users’ access to Didi’s micro-software.
Users who have previously used the platforms can still use the service.
Regulations & Policy
Following the Didi investigation, China will increase its examination of more foreign-listed companies.
So far in 2021, Chinese companies have raised a total of $12.5 billion in 34 deals, setting a new high.
Deals
Didi and other US-listed companies have lost billions as a result of China’s tech crackdown.
Didi Global’s stock dropped as much as 25% in pre-market trading in the United States on Tuesday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese officials have advised Didi to postpone its IPO in the United States.
To continue reading our free content, create an account.
If you don’t want to get The Daily Brief in your inbox every day, unsubscribe.
REGISTER
Do you already have a login? Here is where you may log in./n
Read More
