A new regulation in China designed to rein in the use of recommendation algorithms in apps went into effect on Tuesday, representing Beijing’s latest effort to curb the influence of Big Tech companies in shaping online views and opinions.
The rules come at a time when misinformation and fake news are running rampant on Chinese social media despite extensive government censorship. In recent days, platforms such as microblogging site Weibo, ByteDance’s short video-sharing app Douyin, and Tencent Holdings’ ubiquitous super app WeChat have shut down thousands of accounts that were spreading provocative content related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s internet watchdog, unveiled the draft of the regulation last August, hoping to “regulate algorithm-empowered recommendation activities on the internet”.
The final version of the rules – jointly drawn up by the CAC, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and State Administration for Market Regulation – were published in January. The regulation marks a bold attempt by the Chinese government to tame the use of algorithms, the technology behind the recommendation functions that are commonly found in apps and websites.
