context: Under the current campaign to regulate cyberspace content, Beijing is cracking down on unfettered competition among tech giants and regulating algorithms to keep cyberspace content in line with 'correct' ideology. New guiding opinions call for preventing algorithms from countering state ideology and disturbing social stability. These opinions, for the first time, also call for banning tech companies from using algorithms to hammer their rivals and for protecting the IPR of algorithms.
Beijing further tightened the regulation of algorithms by issuing ‘Guiding opinions on administering cyberspace content algorithms’ on 29 Sep 2021. The Opinions call for constructing a governance system for algorithms and specify goals to be achieved within three years, including
- clarifying the responsibilities and rights of government, enterprises, industrial organisations and users
- co-administration by government agencies with enterprises, industrial organisations and users
- enterprises are to be held responsible for the consequences of their algorithms
- building algorithm safety and a system of ethical censorship
- strengthening industry self-regulation
- increasing public participation in the supervision of cyberspace
- streamlining the monitoring, assessment, censorship and punishment of abusive algorithms
- monitoring the applications and outcomes of algorithms
- evaluating and resolving algorithms’ ideological and ethical risks
- building algorithmic records
- preventing abusive algorithms, especially algorithms used to
- hammer rivals
- disturb public opinion
- mess up ideological and socio-economic order
- promoting algorithm R&D
- encouraging innovation in algorithms
- protecting the IPR of algorithms
- directing algorithms to produce content in line with ‘correct’ ideology