In Latest Crackdown, China Targets Big Tech's "Abuse Of Algorithms" That Influence Public Opinion
In Latest Crackdown, China Targets Big Tech's "Abuse Of Algorithms" That Influence Public Opinion
China's technology sector was hit with another round of
regulatory crackdowns by Beijing on Friday. The country's internet watchdog
wants to rein in potential "abuse of algorithms" by internet giants
that dish out ads and content to users that can significantly influence their
thinking.
The Cyberspace
Administration of China (CAC) will "conduct in-depth
investigation and rectification of Internet enterprise platform algorithm
security problems, evaluate algorithm security capabilities, and focus on
inspecting large-scale enterprises with strong public opinion attributes or
social mobilization capabilities." CAC made no mention of which internet
companies it would target.
CAC expects to examine the industry's use of algorithms through
the end of the year. The move is part of a much larger campaign to
curtail the widening power big tech companies have in influencing people.
Regulators published a draft on restrictions for content
algorithms back in August. According to the final version released in early
January, the rules forbid practices
that encourage addiction or high consumption and any activities that endanger
national security. We noted at the time:
According
to the Internet Information Service Algorithm Recommendation Management
Regulations: "In recent years, algorithm applications have injected new
momentum into political, economic, and social development. At the same time,
problems caused by algorithm discrimination, 'big data killing,' and inducing
indulgence in the unreasonable application of algorithms have also profoundly
affected the normal communication order and market order."
Algorithms
like the TikTok algorithm create problems like social order poses challenges to
safeguarding ideological security, social fairness and justice, and the
legitimate rights and interests of netizens. The introduction of targeted
algorithm recommendation rules and regulations in the field of Internet
information services is a need to prevent and resolve security risks, and it is
also a need to promote the healthy development of algorithm recommendation
services and improve the level of supervision capabilities.
In February, CAC told algorithm providers who influence public
opinion or mobilize the masses to submit their services for
record-keeping.
Tech industry algorithms have been at the center of many
political controversies in the US. Facebook, Twitter, and Google have been
ridiculed for using algos to flood news stories in people's feeds with content
that influences elections or exacerbates political polarization. Recently,
Facebook and Instagram allowed calling for
violence against 'Russians and Russian soldiers' when
discussing the Ukraine invasion.
ByteDance and Tencent are two companies that will likely come
under scrutiny because of their massive Chinese social media sector
dominance.
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