China Penalizes ByteDance and Alibaba Platforms Amid Content Crackdown
China's top internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has announced actions against ByteDance's news app Jinri Toutiao and Alibaba's internet browser UCWeb for allegedly displaying harmful content. This move follows a recent announcement of a two-month social media crackdown, signaling a tightening of control over online content.
Crackdown on "Harmful" Content
The CAC has vowed to combat content containing "malicious incitement of conflict" and "negative outlooks on life," reflecting Beijing's stringent requirements for social media companies to moderate content. Posts are strictly controlled to avoid anything deemed subversive, vulgar, pornographic, or harmful. This initiative aligns with the government's long-term goal of fostering a "clean and healthy" online environment.
Specific Actions Against Platforms
The actions against Toutiao include summoning the company for a meeting, ordering rectification within a specified time limit, issuing a warning, and strictly dealing with those responsible. The CAC stated that the platform failed to fulfill its responsibility of managing information content and allowed "harmful content" to appear on its trending search list, damaging the online ecosystem. Similar measures are being taken against UCWeb after the Alibaba-owned platform displayed entries relating to "extremely sensitive and malicious" events and topics like "online violence and the privacy of minors."
Two-Month Campaign Details
The two-month campaign aims "to regulate the malicious incitement of conflict and the promotion of violence and vicious currents." Authorities hope to tackle specific online issues, including "exploiting social hot spots to forcibly associate identity, region, or gender with other information, stigmatizing and hyping them." The CAC has declared it will "wield the 'sharp sword' of online law enforcement" to create a "clean and healthy cyberspace."
Broader Regulatory Scrutiny
The CAC had already announced penalties this month against popular digital platforms, including Weibo, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu, for neglecting content management duties. Authorities have not yet specified the punitive actions being taken against these platforms. The focus on cleaning up the internet comes amid increasing scrutiny of the private sector, with other Chinese regulatory bodies increasing their monitoring and investigations. For example, China’s market watchdog has summoned cargo service platform Huolala and has also launched an investigation into Kuaigou, an e-commerce platform under Kuaishou.
