Beijing [China]: In an attempt to further tighten grip on internet usage in China, the country’s government has unveiled a three-year plan to strengthen the management of the algorithms related to internet information services. The three-year campaign will seek to put in place a sound management mechanism and supervision system and a standardised algorithm ecosystem, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in the guideline. Chinese regulators will strengthen the management of algorithms related to internet information services to foster “healthy” and “orderly” development of the industry. Legal violations and malpractices related to algorithms will be severely punished, the guidelines stipulated, CGTN reported. In recent times, algorithms have emerged as one of the most important assets of Chinese tech companies. The operators of video platforms such as ByteDance’s TikTok and anime-streaming service Bilibili rely on algorithms to continuously learn about the personal interests of their users and recommend relevant content or products to them. The Chinese government has sought to regulate the use of algorithms to tighten its grip on what people can read and watch in the digital economy. A CAC regulation on content published in 2019 specified that algorithms should allow for some human interference. These moves are part of a wider campaign by Beijing to broaden its control over online content.
