arrow Products
Glide CMS image Glide CMS image
Glide CMS arrow
The powerful intuitive headless CMS for busy content and editorial teams, bursting with features and sector insight. MACH architecture gives you business freedom.
Glide Go image Glide Go image
Glide Go arrow
Enterprise power at start-up speed. Glide Go is a pre-configured deployment of Glide CMS with hosting and front-end problems solved.
Glide Nexa image Glide Nexa image
Glide Nexa arrow
Audience authentication, entitlements, and preference management in one system designed for publishers and content businesses.
For your sector arrow arrow
Media & Entertainment
arrow arrow
Built for any content to thrive, whomever it's for. Get content out faster and do more with it.
Sports & Gaming
arrow arrow
Bring fans closer to their passions and deliver unrivalled audience experiences wherever they are.
Publishing
arrow arrow
Tailored to the unique needs of publishing so you can fully focus on audiences and content success.
For your role arrow arrow
Technology
arrow arrow
Unlock resources and budget with low-code & no-code solutions to do so much more.
Editorial & Content
arrow arrow
Make content of higher quality quicker, and target it with pinpoint accuracy at the right audiences.
Developers
arrow arrow
MACH architecture lets you kickstart development, leveraging vast native functionality and top-tier support.
Commercial & Marketing
arrow arrow
Speedrun ideas into products, accelerate ROI, convert interest, and own the conversation.
Technology Partners arrow arrow
Explore Glide's world-class technology partners and integrations.
Solution Partners arrow arrow
For workflow guidance, SEO, digital transformation, data & analytics, and design, tap into Glide's solution partners and sector experts.
Industry Insights arrow arrow
News
arrow arrow
News from inside our world, about Glide Publishing Platform, our customers, and other cool things.
Comment
arrow arrow
Insight and comment about the things which make content and publishing better - or sometimes worse.
Expert Guides
arrow arrow
Essential insights and helpful resources from industry veterans, and your gateway to CMS and Glide mastery.
Newsletter
arrow arrow
The Content Aware weekly newsletter, with news and comment every Thursday.
Knowledge arrow arrow
Customer Support
arrow arrow
Learn more about the unrivalled customer support from the team at Glide.
Documentation
arrow arrow
User Guides and Technical Documentation for Glide Publishing Platform headless CMS, Glide Go, and Glide Nexa.
Developer Experience
arrow arrow
Learn more about using Glide headless CMS, Glide Go, and Glide Nexa identity management.

China goes first with direct algorithm regulations

Beijing steps in where Western regulators have so far not gone, setting out the legal framework that tech companies must follow in their use of algorithms in order to protect consumers

by Rob Corbidge
Published: 14:55, 21 January 2022

Last updated: 15:38, 21 January 2022
Flag of the People's Republic of China

China has provided a possible template for Western regulators as it seeks to bring its own Big Tech companies to heel over their use of "recommendation" algorithms and secret price structures.

New regulations, that take effect in China from the start of March, are designed to put an end to what the Chinese have called "content intoxication" in which consumers are fed an endless cycle of recommendations, and also address "algorithmic discrimination", by which consumers are given different pricing for the same product, based on data they are not aware is being held.

Such pricing practices have been highlighted in the UK by the Consumer Association this week.


The regulations have been drawn up by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), along with three other government bodies. 

They stipulate that "that algorithmic recommendation service providers shall not use technology to engage in illegal activities or spread illegal information, and shall take measures to prevent the dissemination of harmful online content."

The regulation also prohibits algorithmic recommendation service providers from generating fake news or disseminating information from unauthorised sources.

It states that algorithm technology shall not be used to influence online public opinion, evade supervision and management, and engage in activities of monopoly and unfair competition.

The regulation also demands that "algorithmic recommendation service providers promote mainstream values and spread positive energy."

While "positive energy" might seem a quaint phrase, set against the current Western plague of "doom scrolling" it doesn't sound quite so naive. 

The CAC regulations also direct algorithm recommendation service providers to "protect the interests of elderly people". Such enforcement is also being planned in the UK.

The Chinese authorities obviously have their own information control agenda, and it's a level of control that we in the West find unacceptable.

For example, in October last year, Beijing released its white list of 1,358 news outlets - outlets that it is allowed to use content from.

However,  the direction that they are coming is arguably irrelevant, as the Big Tech governance toolkit from which regulators can draw is broadly the same, in either East or West, even given that Beijing can shut an entire business down with greater ease. The internet isn't necessarily about subversion of the state, it's mostly about cats - how much cats is acceptable to watch, whether those cats are going to raid your gran's bank account, and how much you're paying for your exclusive cat content is the more pressing issue in China too.

Of course, one man's "content intoxication" is another man's "finely calibrated content mechanism", and, as anyone in the industry knows, China's own TikTok - Douyin in China - is the current master of that particular art.