{"id":298589,"date":"2021-07-14T12:47:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T09:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/china-is-cracking-down-hard-on-big-tech-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2021-07-14T12:47:13","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T09:47:13","slug":"china-is-cracking-down-hard-on-big-tech-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/china-is-cracking-down-hard-on-big-tech-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"#China is cracking down hard on Big Tech \u2014 here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2675bda5446\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2675bda5446\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/china-is-cracking-down-hard-on-big-tech-heres-why\/#The_curious_case_of_DiDi\" >The curious case of DiDi<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/china-is-cracking-down-hard-on-big-tech-heres-why\/#The_primacy_of_social_good\" >The primacy of social good<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#China is cracking down hard on Big Tech \u2014 here\u2019s why<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Over the past few weeks, the Chinese government\u2019s crackdown on Big Tech companies has intensified. The giants have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3140770\/meituan-quietly-revives-its-stand-alone-ride-hailing-app-didi-chuxing\">all felt<\/a> the brunt of heightened regulatory scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of last year, Ant Group (which owns the payment platform AliPay) failed to go public on the stock market. Chinese regulators cited <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com.au\/what-happened-ant-group-ipo-jack-ma-alipay-2020-11\">a lack of compliance with new fintech regulations<\/a>, which were abruptly introduced a week after founder Jack Ma publicly criticized the existing regulatory regime.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the calculated reining-in of China\u2019s largest tech firms by the government continues unabated, culminating in several high-profile cases over the past month. Two of China\u2019s largest e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Pinduoduo, were taken to task last week over online vendors <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202107\/1228216.shtml\">publishing fake product inspection reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, China\u2019s largest food delivery platform, Meituan, has been the subject of an <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3131456\/meituan-faces-big-fine-antitrust-violation-just-alibaba-analysts-say\">antitrust probe<\/a> since April.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social media<\/a> platforms aren\u2019t spared either. The popular platform Xiaohongshu (which translates to \u201cLittle Red Book\u201d) has come under <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jingdaily.com\/wealth-flaunting-china-social-media-xiaohongshu\/\">regulatory scrutiny<\/a> for enabling \u201cwealth-flaunting\u201d behavior.<\/p>\n<p>But these practices have been going on for some time. So what\u2019s behind the government\u2019s sudden choke-hold? And given the economic benefits these companies bring to China, is the government shooting itself in the foot, or are other forces at play?<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_curious_case_of_DiDi\"><\/span>The curious case of DiDi<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It used to be a source of great national pride when a Chinese tech firm was listed on a foreign stock exchange. On June 30 this year, DiDi \u2014 China\u2019s version of Uber which operates around the world and in Australia \u2014 achieved just that. It debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at US$14 per share.<\/p>\n<p>The initial public offering (IPO) raised US$4.4 billion and valued the company at US$68 billion, making it the second-largest US IPO by a Chinese company, after Alibaba. Just days after the phenomenal success, however, DiDi was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/article\/3140593\/chinese-regulators-order-25-more-didi-linked-apps-removed-stores\">abruptly pulled<\/a> from China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> stores, along with 25 other apps linked to the company.<\/p>\n<p>From a height of more than US$16 per share, DiDi shares have lost a third of their value to date. The company is now subject to a class-action lawsuit from investors who bought into its IPO, for not revealing its <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-57744983\">ongoing legal issues<\/a> relating to compliance with China\u2019s data security regulations.<\/p>\n<p>The Cyberspace Administration of China claimed DiDi was guilty of serious violations of laws and regulations in the collection and use of personal data, the Global Times <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202107\/1227859.shtml\">reported<\/a>. But DiDi has been in the Chinese market for more than nine years, so surely these issues should have surfaced sooner.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/07\/12\/1015371400\/china-removed-didi-from-app-stores-accused-the-company-of-violating-security-rul\">speculated<\/a> the Chinese government is more concerned the data owned by DiDi \u2014 a company that accounts for about 90% of China\u2019s taxi and rideshare services \u2014 would end up in the hands of the US government following its listing on the US stock exchange.<\/p>\n<p>This data could be used to construct detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> logs of Chinese residents, with obvious implications for national security. This concern may be legitimate, as US government agencies routinely request data from even homegrown tech firms.<\/p>\n<p>Firms have the right to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/government-and-politics-technology-business-ed50baf4ffb09ca50cda9b8a262c54ad\">challenge such requests<\/a>. But this is naturally at the firm\u2019s discretion, and a lack of direct control is something the Chinese government traditionally eschews.<\/p>\n<p>The fallout from DiDi\u2019s regulatory troubles has spread more widely as other US-listed tech firms have also come under <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/771f6d40-ecd2-4855-8193-d0550f1d2e3d\">increased scrutiny<\/a>, signaling regulatory reforms may be on the horizon.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_primacy_of_social_good\"><\/span><strong>The primacy of social good<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To understand the rationale behind the Chinese government\u2019s recent moves, we must first understand the parallel universe that is China\u2019s technological landscape. In China, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> must never be harnessed solely for an individual or organization\u2019s gain. Social good is always emphasized, as defined and enforced by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n<p>DiDi\u2019s listing on the New York Stock Exchange would have undoubtedly fuelled the company\u2019s global expansion. But in the eyes of the Chinese government, it could have also hurt the nation\u2019s collective interests. It remains to be seen whether this apparent contradiction can be resolved.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s collectivist approach to technology consumption is also evident in its regulation of mobile <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s.<\/p>\n<p>This week <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/08\/business\/video-game-facial-recognition-tencent.html\">news emerged<\/a> that Tencent \u2014 which owns WeChat and is one of the largest gaming companies in the world \u2014 will <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mp.weixin.qq.com\/s\/Cr17TKWQ3XcuNzDw085OLw\">use a facial recognition<\/a> feature called \u201cMidnight Patrol\u201d to restrict the activities of under-18 gamers. Tencent <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mp.weixin.qq.com\/s\/Cr17TKWQ3XcuNzDw085OLw\">said<\/a> the feature was already being used in 60 games, with more additions planned.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the Chinese government imposed a video game curfew on minors, banning them from playing between 10pm and 8am \u2014 allegedly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/11\/06\/business\/china-video-game-ban-young.html\">to curb<\/a> gaming addiction. South Korea is the only other country with such a curfew.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s expected the Midnight Patrol rollout will prevent minors from using their parents\u2019 devices or identities to circumvent the curfew. Facial recognition trials for this purpose started in 2018, but Midnight Patrol is unique in its scale of implementation.<\/p>\n<p>From a Western point of view, such measures may seem a draconian violation of privacy and freedom. In China, however, they are <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202105\/1223204.shtml\">lauded and welcomed<\/a>. The prevailing view is tech firms may profit commercially from the exploitation of technology, but not at the expense of social good.<\/p>\n<p>For consumers of Chinese tech services in Australia and other countries, the good <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> is these firms have always tried to differentiate their services for domestic and international markets.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the massively popular video-sharing platform TikTok is named Douyin in China, where it abides by vastly different rules to the TikTok used by the rest of us. And if there are privacy concerns, international consumers can always choose to not use these services.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese consumers, unfortunately, don\u2019t have this choice.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/164395\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/164395\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/barney-tan-108224\">Barney Tan<\/a>, Associate Professor, Business Information Systems, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-sydney-841\">University of Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/facial-recognition-for-gamers-app-store-bans-for-didi-whats-behind-chinas-recent-crackdown-on-big-tech-164395\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/china-crackdown-big-tech-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#China is cracking down hard on Big Tech \u2014 here\u2019s why&#8221; Over the past few weeks, the Chinese government\u2019s crackdown on Big Tech companies has intensified. The giants have all felt the brunt of heightened regulatory scrutiny. At the end of last year, Ant Group (which owns the payment platform AliPay) failed to go public&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":298590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/Didi-app-hed.jpg&signature=9e50b3fa82e66016cbdd8446e31a91e7","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}