Over the past few weeks, the Chinese governments crackdown on Big Tech companies has intensified.
The giants haveall feltthe brunt of heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Chinas largest food delivery platform, Meituan, has been the subject of anantitrust probesince April.
Social media platforms arent spared either.
The popular platform Xiaohongshu (which translates to Little Red Book) has come underregulatory scrutinyfor enabling wealth-flaunting behavior.
But these practices have been going on for some time.
So whats behind the governments sudden choke-hold?
It debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at US$14 per share.
This concern may be legitimate, as US government agencies routinely request data from even homegrown tech firms.
Firms have the right tochallenge such requests.
In China, technology must never be harnessed solely for an individual or organizations gain.
Social good is always emphasized, as defined and enforced by the Chinese government.
DiDis listing on the New York Stock Exchange would have undoubtedly fuelled the companys global expansion.
But in the eyes of the Chinese government, it could have also hurt the nations collective interests.
It remains to be seen whether this apparent contradiction can be resolved.
Chinas collectivist approach to technology consumption is also evident in its regulation of mobile games.
Tencentsaidthe feature was already being used in 60 games, with more additions planned.
South Korea is the only other country with such a curfew.
From a Western point of view, such measures may seem a draconian violation of privacy and freedom.
In China, however, they are generallylauded and welcomed.
And if there are privacy concerns, international consumers can always choose to not use these services.
Chinese consumers, unfortunately, dont have this choice.
