Have China’s regulators busted link blocking among Chinese tech firms?

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Hello readers,

Watching rival companies go head to head is my favorite form of entertainment. For example, there’s the constant advertising war between McDonald’s and Burger King. And how can we forget the viral ad showcasing how Pepsi supposedly goes better with burgers than Coke? In such cases, consumers often stand to gain from this intense competition.

In China, however, such rivalry can have a direct impact on users. For instance,link blocking is a common practice where platforms prevent users from accessing competing platforms. You can imagine how annoying it is when users can’t even click or share a particular link.

On the bright side, China’s regulators are now looking into banning the practice. But while it sounds like good news, there are also issues associated with prohibiting link blocking.

Today we look at,

• The pros and cons of banning link blocking
• The live-video infrastructure startup built by Facebook and Disney executives
• Other newsy highlights such as the latest funding hauls of Sky Mavis and Byju’s

P.S. We’re helping startups raise funds! If you run a startup or know someone who does, sign up over here so we can include the companies in our list so they can investors can keep watch.

PREMIUM SUMMARY

China is banning link blocking. That’s good news, right?

Have you found yourself unable to access a link on WeChat? Well, you’re not alone. The Tencent-owned messaging app used to block links to competitors including ByteDance Douyin – the Chinese version of short-video app Tiktok – and DingTalk,Alibaba’s workplace chat app. Link blocking is common among Chinese tech giants in the past, but that practice will soon end.

• Law enters the picture: China’s regulators have labeled link blocking as an anti-competitive move designed to hinder the growth of rivals. Tech giants including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and ByteDance now face new regulations that prevent them from conducting such practices in the future.
• The good: Banninglink blocking creates a better experience for users. Furthermore, with the free flow of information between platforms, there could even be a direct integration between WeChat Pay, Taobao, and Douyin in the future.
• The bad: Unblocking competitor links could bring about operational and technical challenges as well as user privacy and cybersecurity issues.

Read more: China’s link-blocking ban: panacea or Pandora’s box?

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