- Xinhua News Agency/Getty Generation China As the US slowly grapples with how to handle the Googles and the Facebooks of the world, China is in the middle of a once-in-a-generation experiment in regulating Big Tech.
- The country’s top 1% holds 30% of the wealth.
- Some companies, such as Ant Group, are monopolistic and deserve to be regulated, says James Laurenceson, an economist and director of the Australia-China Relations Institute.
- Chakrovorti said that China’s crackdown thus far offers some lessons for governments abroad, but many are on what not to do.
China is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation experiment in regulating Big Tech, as the US steadily grapples with how to deal with the Googles and Facebooks of the globe as reported by CNet.
Common prosperity
The Chinese Communist Party has spent the past year placing unprecedented restrictions on the country’s technology sector.
The rest of the world needs to take notice.
The use of cryptocurrency has been prohibited by the country’s central bank.
The crackdown is part of a bigger Chinese government drive to promote “Common Prosperity,” a concept that President Xi Jinping has used frequently in his speeches.
The wealthiest 1% of the population owns 30% of the country’s wealth.
The party is focusing on celebrity culture, debt-ridden firms like Evergrande, and, perhaps most crucially, Big Tech to close the gap.
A historic year
Alibaba founder Jack Ma slammed China’s underdeveloped financial infrastructure in front of a crowd of business leaders in Shanghai a year ago.
He claimed that the banks in the country had a “pawn shop attitude.“
Since then, many tech titans have been humbled.
After allegedly breaking privacy guidelines, Didi, China’s Uber, was removed from app stores.
Ma has kept a low profile for the past year, which is unusual for her.
According to James Laurenceson, an economist and head of the Australia-China Relations Institute, some corporations, such as Ant Group, are monopolistic and deserve to be controlled.
Uncommon prosperity
Frances Haugen, a Facebook whistleblower, urged a US Senate commerce subcommittee on Oct. 5 to tighten Facebook’s regulations.
Since the Cambridge Analytica crisis in 2018, there have been continual calls for Big Tech corporations to be regulated.
China has taken a significantly more assertive stance.
China is acting in response to the United States’ inaction in capturing its giants.
Nonetheless, Chakrovorti believes the EU will closely examine China’s approach to fining its internet behemoths, and that politicians in some US states will likely take a page from China’s Personal Information Protection Law.
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Source: CNet
