China’s top internet regulator said on Monday, Dec.12, that it is launching a special campaign to rectify “chaos” in the country’s mobile app sector, which has already been shrinking in recent years amid fierce competition and stringent regulations.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said it will clamp down on disorder in every part of the industry chain, ranging from app search and rankings to downloads and usage, according to new guidelines published on the agency’s WeChat account.
The post cited fake apps, illegal collection of user data, spread of harmful information, excessive pop-up ads, and practices designed to trick users into downloading certain apps or topping up their spending accounts, as some examples of misbehaviour that needs to be reined in.
While the regulator did not spell out specific penalties for violations, it said that app distribution platforms are responsible for taking appropriate moves to correct any issue, and that it would “take targeted measures” against platforms with severe problems and “implement those measures forcefully”.
The number of apps in China has been declining amid a broader regulatory crackdown on the tech sector and reduced consumer spending under a slowing economy. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has omitted mobile app-related data in its monthly reports since July, the first time since the statistics were made available in August 2017. This came after 930,000 apps ceased operation in China last year, which is equivalent to about 2,500 apps disappearing each day, according to the ministry.
As of the end of June this year, there were 2.32 million apps operating in China, down 8 per cent from 2.52 million at the end of 2021 and just a little more than half of the 4.49 million in operation at the end of 2018.
Monday’s announcement is the latest in a long list of “special actions” carried out by the Cyberspace Administration as part of its “clean up” campaign to root out “online chaos” and create a “clean and healthy” cyberspace, which includes measures to control internet discussions.
With such actions, the agency has accumulated sweeping power to control China’s internet and technology sector.
The agency said earlier this year that it planned to perform 10 special actions in 2022, focusing on areas including live streaming and short videos, online rumour mills, recommendation algorithms, as well as online user accounts.
Source: SCMP
