China is looking to reign in its new oligarchs, its tech giants, who, in the span of about a decade ended up with vast empires that dwarved the sizes of some of the biggest government departments in the Chinese Communist Party state.
In the process, its also looking to make sure no American Big Techers get their data mining noses in their proverbial business by setting standards that are targeted at preventing non-government agents, be they foreign or domestic, from collecting data of any substance about their chattel, that is, citizens.
China has woken up to the reality that data is the new power that leads to all other power and right now, their own newly billionaired tech princes and princesses have more access to data about these citizens than the government itself does. Well, that’s about to change, and what happens in China will be noticed by all, with nation-states that have similar levels of control over their citizens doing similar things to protect themselves from being usurped in real power in their own lands by tech moguls.
The plans will be approved by Xi or they won’t happen at all. There is no debate. Xi will decide specifically what the new social media landscape is for his country.
The data restrictions include assuring the algorithms do not violate the principles of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Just like America, which has its own monopolistically imposed commitment to assuring algorthms reflect a specifical morality over all other moralities, even if the one morality violates the liberties of the other moralities that might not agree with it., China means to keep dissenting values out of the public square, for the safety and welfare of the whole.
From www.theguardian.com
2021-08-27 12:55:49
Excerpt:
China’s tech bosses are among its wealthiest citizens, and they are very much in Xi’s sights. The boss of social and gaming giant Tencent, Pony Ma, is estimated by Forbes to be worth $43bn (£31bn). His peer Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, is not far behind at $41bn.
With money have come power at home and influence abroad, both of which pose a threat to the Communist party, analysts say. China’s technologies increasingly shape the western world, from Alibaba in global trade, linking western buyers with exporters of goods made in China, to TikTok in popular culture, to online gaming, where Tencent has an interest in some of the most successful European developers.
“The recent regulatory crackdowns also send a chilling message to enterprising Chinese business people, whose contributions to the economy are far bigger than many state-owned firms,” said Dexter Roberts, senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
“Chinese economists…
From www.theguardian.com
2021-08-27 12:55:49
Excerpt:
The Cyberspace Administration of China has issued a swathe of draft proposals to more rightly regulate how companies use algorithms.
The proposed guidelines say they must comply with laws and regulations, respect social ethics and ethics, abide by business ethics and professional ethics, and follow principles of (among others) fairness, openness and transparency.
The wide-ranging regulations would bar companies from using algorithms to hit consumers with higher prices based on their known preferences and trading habits, or influence online public opinion, or excessively manipulate search results in a way that harms competition.
Practices which violate public order, or encourage addiction or “high consumption” would also be curbed…….
China’s tech bosses are among its wealthiest citizens, and they are very much in Xi’s sights. The boss of social and gaming giant Tencent, Pony Ma, is estimated by Forbes to be worth $43bn (£31bn). His peer Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, is not far behind at $41bn.
With money have come power at home and influence abroad, both of which pose a threat to the Communist party, analysts say. China’s technologies increasingly shape the western world, from Alibaba in global trade, linking western buyers with exporters of goods made in China, to TikTok in popular culture, to online gaming, where Tencent has an interest in some of the most successful European developers.
“The recent regulatory crackdowns also send a chilling message to enterprising Chinese business people, whose contributions to the economy are far bigger than many state-owned firms,” said Dexter Roberts, senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
