China tech giants provide details of algorithms to government for first time

The algorithms that decide which TikTok videos, WeChat posts and Instagram photos users see are considered the secret sauce of many online services,

China’s internet giants, including Tencent and TikTok-owner ByteDance, have shared details of their prized algorithms with Beijing for the first time, an unprecedented move aimed at curbing data abuse that may end up compromising closely guarded corporate secrets.

The internet watchdog has published a list describing 30 algorithms that firms including Alibaba and Meituan employ to gather data on users, tailor personal recommendations and serve up content. While the public list stopped short of revealing the actual code, it wasn’t clear the extent to which internet firms may have revealed their underlying software to regulators in private.

The algorithms that decide which TikTok videos, WeChat posts and Instagram photos users see are considered the secret sauce of many online services, critical in capturing user attention and driving growth. China in March adopted regulations that require internet firms to disclose such tools, an effort to address complaints about data abuse that also helps regulators keep internet firms on a tighter leash.

Controversies

Tech industry algorithms are jealously guarded and have been at the heart of political controversies around the world. That disclosure requirement sets China apart from countries like the US, where Facebook-owner Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google  have argued successfully that algorithms are business secrets, even as legislators  and activists seek to better understand how they curate content and manage data.

“No one has ever had access to such details before,” said Zhai Wei, an executive director of the Competition Law Research Centre at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai. 

“Tech companies’ algorithms are the key business secrets that represent their competencies,” the director said. 

Regulation

China for now requires only basic information from the companies, but it may seek more details to investigate allegations of data violations. The publication of the list means the implementation process is going smoothly, said Ding Mengdan, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke law firm’s Hangzhou office.

China has been tightening regulations to rein in the once-unchecked expansion of the country’s tech giants. Last year, the country introduced the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law to set out tougher rules for how companies handle user data. 

Bloomberg