China yesterday ordered Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) and 13 other developers to rectify problems related to pop-ups within their apps, adding to a wide-ranging crackdown on the nation’s tech sector.
The companies must address the “harassing” pop-up windows, which could contain misleading information or divert users away from the apps, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.
The 14 services, including an e-books app by Tencent’s QQ and a video platform by Le.com (樂視), will have to fix the problems by Tuesday.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Failure to abide by regulations” will not be tolerated and will be “penalized” accordingly, the ministry said.
Pop-ups, often used for advertising, are just the latest targets in a series of government crackdowns that have ranged from antitrust to data security, as Beijing seeks to rein in the tech giants’ influence over most of everyday life.
The crackdown has stepped into high gear in the past few days after regulators announced their toughest-ever curbs on the online education sector and issued edicts governing food delivery, fueling a rout in Chinese tech stocks.
The statement comes days after the regulator announced a six-month crackdown on illegal online activities.
The ministry on Monday said it would take steps to root out breaches involving pop-ups, data collection and storage, as well as the blocking of external links.
Other regulators, such as the Cyberspace Administration of China, have also vowed to tighten restrictions on misleading and explicit content used for marketing purposes.
The watchdog said such material would be subject to harsher oversight, issuing fines against companies such as Tencent, Kuaishou Technology (快手) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) for offensive content.
Tencent shares sank more than 5 percent in intraday trading yesterday, adding to a three-day, 18 percent sell-off.
The company, China’s biggest by market value, on Tuesday suspended registrations for its WeChat services to rectify illegal behavior online.
Chinese investors have sold a net HK$33 billion (US$4.2 billion) of Tencent this month in what is likely to be the biggest monthly outflow in at least a year, Bloomberg calculations show. Their stake in the company has fallen to the lowest since February, the data show. They have also sold a net HK$13 billion of Meituan (美團) shares this month, cutting holdings to the lowest since May.
“The extent and harshness of Beijing’s crackdown have surprised many people,” said Dai Ming, a Shanghai-based fund manager at Huichen Asset Management Co (匯宸投資管理). “It’s far beyond ‘normal regulation,’ a scenario that many of us once priced in. Anything that threatens China’s data security will be heavily punished.”
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