The Great Rectification: A New Paradigm for China’s Online Platform Economy

28 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2023

See all articles by Rogier Creemers

Rogier Creemers

Leiden University - Leiden Institute for Area Studies

Date Written: January 9, 2023

Abstract

This article reviews the regulatory campaign against China’s online platform sector that took place between 2020 and 2022. It focuses specifically on its substantive policy aspects, arguing that this “rectification” both intended to remedy existing perceived problems in the online platform industry and to reshape the sector to better meet the needs of the rapidly altering economic and development policy environment. The rectification pursued six discrete goals: managing macro- economic risks, maintaining content control, addressing emerging social concerns, remedying market imbalances, mitigating foreign risks, and supporting the technology development area. It led to significant punitive actions, as well as rhetorical and behavioural shifts by companies. As such, it provides a first test case of the bigger changes occurring under the post-19th Party Congress “New Era”, but also holds comparative potential for researching platform governance worldwide.

Keywords: China, digital economy, data protection, regulation, big tech

Suggested Citation

Creemers, Rogier, The Great Rectification: A New Paradigm for China’s Online Platform Economy (January 9, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4320952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4320952

Rogier Creemers (Contact Author)

Leiden University - Leiden Institute for Area Studies ( email )

Matthias de Vrieshof 3
Room 10
Leiden, 2311
Netherlands

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