Speaking of tech in China, there have been some dramatic recent shifts on that country’s tech scene. Chinese authorities have cracked down on tech giants with a slew of regulations. It’s a mixed bag. Regulators are taking aim at unhealthy monopolies and trying to protect society from the potentially disastrous effects of social media on privacy, mental health, and more. But some regulations risk stifling innovation, as Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma noted last October, and give the governing Chinese Communist Party greater control. However, it’s great that China CAN crack down on unhealthy behaviour by tech giants: the West is struggling to do the same. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a shocking series of exposés into Facebook’s dodgy practices, like excluding celebrities and influential users from content moderation rules and hiding research that shows the harmful effects Instagram – which it owns – has on young users. 👀
Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba, on the other hand, have agreed to a government proposal that aims to narrow the country’s wealth gap and give small and medium-sized tech businesses the chance to enter the market. We’re here for that.
This article appeared as part of The Wrap, 30 September 2021. Sign up to receive our weekly updates.
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