{
  "id": 13404056,
  "title": "China’s Zhejiang province calls to limit tech giants’ power over online traffic",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/chinas-zhejiang-province-calls-to-limit-tech-giants-power-over-online",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-10T12:00:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3370443/chinas-zhejiang-province-calls-limit-tech-giants-power-over-online-traffic"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Officials in Zhejiang province, an eastern Chinese province known for its thriving tech industry, have urged stricter regulations on major internet platforms, arguing that their \"traffic power\" has become a force capable of shaping public opinion and discourse. In a commentary shared on social media, the province's party committee's publicity department described internet traffic as more than just a data resource, advocating for it to be treated like a semi-public utility rather than a private asset owned by tech companies.\n\nThe department criticized these platforms for prioritizing clicks and commercial interests over public welfare, noting that they manipulate trending lists and recommendation feeds to promote low-value or sensational content while suppressing discussions on technology, social welfare, and livelihoods. They warned that this could weaken public understanding of social realities, reduce participation in public affairs, and exacerbate social divisions by amplifying disputes through traffic recommendations.\n\nThe article highlighted concerns over recommendation algorithms, which select and rank content based on users' online activity and preferences, potentially limiting exposure to diverse viewpoints and reinforcing stereotypes and polarization. The department called for regulators to clarify platform power boundaries, strengthen oversight of platform rules, and impose stricter constraints and penalties for promoting low-value content and stirring disputes. They also urged platforms to improve content management, make rules more transparent, and enhance algorithm transparency.\n\nChinese authorities have been implementing the \"Qinglang\" campaign, a series of online clean-up efforts since 2016, with over 60 rounds of crackdowns between 2021 and August 2023. Several major platforms have since updated their algorithms to promote more positive content, give users greater control over their feeds, diversify recommendations, and improve algorithm transparency. The CAC also noted that these platforms introduced rules for managing trending content and accounts. However, industry experts like Dong Chenyu from Renmin University of China emphasized that such platforms have little incentive to prioritize attention-grabbing content that drives traffic and engagement over the public interest, as they face potential fines for doing so.",
  "summary": "Communist Party officials in eastern China’s Zhejiang province have called for greater oversight of major internet platforms and their “traffic power”, warning that online traffic and algorithms had evolved into a force capable of shaping public discussion and sentiment. The publicity department of the Zhejiang provincial party committee published the commentary on social media on Thursday,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Financial Post",
        "title": "CGTN: How China uses digital tech to empower women globally",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/cgtn-how-china-uses-digital-tech-to-empower-women-globally",
        "published": "2026-10-10T09:47:51.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
        "title": "China’s Zhejiang province calls to limit tech giants’ power over online traffic",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/chinas-zhejiang-province-calls-to-limit-tech-giants-power-over-online-13405601",
        "published": "2026-10-10T12:00:07.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}