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Technically the companies are allowed to operate in China, but to do so they would need to follow the strict censorship and data sharing rules the Chinese gover

by angio 5y ago

Technically the companies are allowed to operate in China, but to do so they would need to follow the strict censorship and data sharing rules the Chinese government requires all companies to adopt. That's why, for example, Bing is available in China and Google not.

gruez 5y ago
What about the requirement for a "local partner"?
llboston 5y ago
> Technically the companies are allowed to operate in China So you are saying they are not blocked by the GFW?
savant_penguin 5y ago
My impression is that's really just a technicality though. If instead of a total ban imposed on these companies, the US imposed incredibly tough rules tailored for them but that applied to "all" foreigners that made it impossible for these companies to operate, the end result would be the same
- angio 5y ago
  > If instead of a total ban imposed on these companies, the US imposed incredibly tough rules tailored for them but that applied to "all" foreigners that made it impossible for these companies to operate, the end result would be the same Or TikTok would change their business to operate within the limits of the new regulation, which is something that cannot happen with an outright ban. A good compromise is to do like the EU with GDPR and not ban companies directly but still require them to comply with local privacy laws if they want to access the market. Foreign companies that don't want to do it can simply block European users (effectively self-censoring themselves).
- ectopod 5y ago
  But Chinese companies do have to comply with these rules. China cares about total surveillance more than they care about blocking foreign competitors.
  - aerosmile 5y ago
    American companies live and die by their users, Chinese companies live and die by the Chinese government. What if the US imposed a rule that every company operating in the US has to sign a public declaration criticizing the Tiananmen Square massacre? Not an issue for any company in the world except for the Chinese ones. Just because a rule applies to everyone equally doesn't mean that it's providing an equal playing field.
    - SkyMarshal 5y ago
      That rule would be a problem for any company operating in China, not just Chinese companies.
      - aerosmile 5y ago
        But not in the US. My point was to illustrate that the Chinese equivalent situation is discriminatory against foreign companies even though it applies equally to all.
tablespoon 5y ago
> but to do so they would need to follow the strict...data sharing rules the Chinese government requires all companies to adopt. A.K.A government surveillance and anti-privacy rules. For instance, I believe various data leaks have proved that Chinese police (down to the local level) get a literal feed of all public and private social media messages sent over Chinese apps. There's also a video floating around of some poor schmuck locked in a tiger chair by some Chinese police, being forced to apologize for talking smack about them in a private chat.

by angio 5y ago

gruez 5y ago

What about the requirement for a "local partner"?

llboston 5y ago

> Technically the companies are allowed to operate in China So you are saying they are not blocked by the GFW?

savant_penguin 5y ago

My impression is that's really just a technicality though. If instead of a total ban imposed on these companies, the US imposed incredibly tough rules tailored for them but that applied to "all" foreigners that made it impossible for these companies to operate, the end result would be the same

angio 5y ago
> If instead of a total ban imposed on these companies, the US imposed incredibly tough rules tailored for them but that applied to "all" foreigners that made it impossible for these companies to operate, the end result would be the same Or TikTok would change their business to operate within the limits of the new regulation, which is something that cannot happen with an outright ban. A good compromise is to do like the EU with GDPR and not ban companies directly but still require them to comply with local privacy laws if they want to access the market. Foreign companies that don't want to do it can simply block European users (effectively self-censoring themselves).
ectopod 5y ago
But Chinese companies do have to comply with these rules. China cares about total surveillance more than they care about blocking foreign competitors.
- aerosmile 5y ago
  American companies live and die by their users, Chinese companies live and die by the Chinese government. What if the US imposed a rule that every company operating in the US has to sign a public declaration criticizing the Tiananmen Square massacre? Not an issue for any company in the world except for the Chinese ones. Just because a rule applies to everyone equally doesn't mean that it's providing an equal playing field.
  - SkyMarshal 5y ago
    That rule would be a problem for any company operating in China, not just Chinese companies.
    - aerosmile 5y ago
      But not in the US. My point was to illustrate that the Chinese equivalent situation is discriminatory against foreign companies even though it applies equally to all.

tablespoon 5y ago

> but to do so they would need to follow the strict...data sharing rules the Chinese government requires all companies to adopt. A.K.A government surveillance and anti-privacy rules. For instance, I believe various data leaks have proved that Chinese police (down to the local level) get a literal feed of all public and private social media messages sent over Chinese apps. There's also a video floating around of some poor schmuck locked in a tiger chair by some Chinese police, being forced to apologize for talking smack about them in a private chat.