DigiChina Digest - November 2018

DigiChina's upgraded Digest is now in its third month. It includes exclusive new content and news tracking from Chinese-language sources on digital policy in China, as well as the latest from our collaborative work. The Digest is produced in partnership with our colleagues at the Leiden Asia Centre. This edition was compiled by Katharin Tai, Alessandra Jonkhout, and Graham Webster.

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RECENTLY FROM DIGICHINA

Translation: Xi Jinping Calls for 'Healthy Development' of AI

Chinese leader Xi Jinping led a study session of the Politburo of the Communist Party Central Committee on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI)—the latest in a series of high-level political signals about the field's importance following publication of the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in 2017. At the study session, Xi emphasized the role of AI in Chinese competitiveness:

"Accelerating the development of a new generation of AI is an important strategic handhold for China to gain the initiative in global science and technology competition, and it is an important strategic resource driving our country's leapfrog development in science and technology, its industrial optimization and upgrading, and a comprehensive leap ahead in productivity."

Xi also called for Chinese officials to "establish and improve laws and regulations, systems and institutions, and ethics and moral principles that ensure healthy development of AI." [Full translation of official coverage]

China’s World Internet Conference Struggles to Live Up to Its Name​

The Chinese government held the fifth World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, this month. DigiChina previewed the event, and reports from attendees suggest that it continued to face a gap between a global vision and a focus on Chinese and like-minded views of Internet and technology governance.

• Xi Jinping's letter (in Chinese) to this year's WIC once again emphasized that cooperation and mutual trust are necessary in areas such as cybersecurity and the digital economy. "Modern information technology such as the Internet, big data, and AI continually achieve breakthroughs, and as the digital economy develops vigorously, the interests of all countries are even more inseparably linked," he said according to Xinhua. Xi echoed the theme of the conference and his preexisting slogan in calling for the building of "a community of common destiny in cyberspace."

New Rules Require Self-Inspection for Services with 'Public Opinion' or 'Social Mobilization' Implications

Businesses with "public opinion properties" or "social mobilization capacity" will be required to conduct security self-assessments when they bring new services online, expand the functionality of their existing services, introduce new technologies or applications, experience a significant increase in user base, are used to spread unlawful information, or any other circumstance identified by the cybersecurity authorities. [Full translation of the rules]

NOTABLE NEWS FROM OTHER SOURCES

WeChat Enacts New Rules for Public Accounts

Tencent's WeChat platform on November 16 announced that individuals will generally now be limited to one public account (down from two), while companies will be limited to two public accounts (down from five), the tech news site Lei Phone reported. On WeChat, public accounts are publishing platforms akin to blogs that are open to subscription by users across the platform.

The changes came one day after the publication of new regulations (see previous item) aimed to control public opinion and mobilization. WeChat reportedly adjusted the rules in order to limit the number of zombie (僵尸) and malicious marketing (恶意营销) accounts, as well as accounts spreading “harmful information” (不良信息). Individual or organizational users reportedly may still apply for additional accounts.

China Consumer Association Demands Compensation for Owners of Stolen Apple IDs

The China Consumer Association (CCA) on October 19 called for Apple to refund Apple ID owners for fraudulent purchases on their accounts, according to a People's Daily Online report. The CCA reported that hundreds of users were victims of a phishing scam that targeted accounts that had not enabled two-factor authentication. The company released a statement saying that the incident was still being investigated. Apple also stated that it was currently receiving many fraudulent refund requests, and it was working together with customer agencies to reach those truly affected. In response the CCA pressed Apple to take responsibility for safeguarding consumers’ privacy, and argued that the fraudulent requests cannot be used as an excuse to deny refunds to the victims.

Zhao Houlin Re-elected as ITU Secretary General

During its annual meeting, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) re-elected Zhao Houlin as its Secretary General for a second four year term, beginning in January 2019. According to People's Daily Online, Zhao was the only candidate and emphasized a commitment to transparency and cooperation after his election. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Assistant Minister Chen Zhaoxiong congratulated Zhao on his re-election, praised the ITU’s role in closing the digital divide, and said that China would contribute $2 million USD to the agency over the next four years. The ITU is the UN agency dedicated to information and telecommunication. Historically, it has been a venue for proposals on Internet governance that center nation states as the main actors.

About DigiChina

The DigiChina project is a collaborative effort to understand China’s digital policy developments, primarily through translating and analyzing Chinese-language sources. DigiChina is supported through a partnership with the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Initiative of the MIT Media Lab and Harvard's Berkman Klein Center.

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