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Doris Yu · · 1 min readSources: Chinese gov’t wants Alibaba to sell some of its media assets
“The Chinese government wants Alibaba Group Holding to sell some of its media assets, including the South China Morning Post, because of growing concerns about the technology giant’s influence over public opinion in the country,” reported Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Details:
- The government officials are concerned that Alibaba would make use of its media assets to control public opinion, leading to a “vicious circle,” said the source.
- The media assets are expected to be sold to a Chinese entity, though a specific buyer hasn’t been identified.
Context:
- Besides the South China Morning Post, Alibaba holds major stakes in the Twitter-like Weibo and video-streaming platform Youku, among others.
- This development comes after reports surfaced that a Chinese regulator will release new rules for ecommerce firms in terms of online transactions and will include scrutiny of festive sales like Singles’ Day.
Editing by Collin Furtado and Jaclyn Tiu
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