The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the People’s Republic of China has in an online notice announced a 6-months duration campaign to clean up what it termed serious issues with internet applications that seem to trample on consumer rights, cyber security and disturbing market order.
The ministry in the notice ordered that pop-ups on apps that serve as a bait to lure and mislead users to use unwanted services or things they do not want must be fixed and removed, as part of a far-reaching wider effort to crack down on tech companies and control the use of personal information.
To keep the companies on their toes, the Chinese authorities ordered the payment of fines, in addition to other penalties for some of China’s biggest tech firms.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the new campaign was launched on Friday with a teleconference call and on Sunday it named its 15th list of dozens of different application, it claimed would require fixing.
A pop-up window was cited as a specific problem, particularly in a scenario where the entire screen of a pop-up window becomes a jump link to a false close button.
Other problems the Ministry pointed out were the blocking of website links maliciously, interference with the products and services of other companies, threats to data security as a result of a failure to encode vital information in the process of transmission and also the failure to require the permission of users before providing their data to other parties.
The notice further took a swipe at interdicted broadband networks, which it termed ‘black broadband’ for failing to align and conform to website filing procedures or having the probability of subletting, having illegal network access.
China’s tech industry regulator has in recent times be massive in the enforcement of anti-monopoly, data security rules against tech companies that are dominating the entertainment and retail niche and other industries.
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Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.
He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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