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TECHNOLOGY Saturday 24 June 2017
China tightens online video controls, jolting investors

By JOE McDONALD scene.
AP Business Writer Beijing has been especially
BEIJING (AP) — Three pop- wary of social media since
ular Chinese internet ser- they were used by orga-
vices have been ordered nizers of the Arab Spring
to stop streaming video protests that spread across
after censors complained it the Middle East in 2010 and
contained improper com- led to the downfall of the
ments on sensitive issues. Egyptian and Tunisian gov-
The move prompted a sell- ernments.
off in the U.S.-traded shares Rules that took effect June
of Sina Corp. and its micro- 1 bar private or foreign
blog service, Sina Weibo. companies from directly
Thursday’s announcement disseminating news or in-
adds to efforts by President vesting in online news ser-
Xi Jinping’s government vices.
to tighten media control Those that want to work
ahead of a Communist Par- with foreign partners must
ty congress late this year. Xi undergo a security review.
is due to be appointed to In January, the government
a second five-year term as announced the launch of
party leader. a 14-month crackdown
Video streamed by users on cloud-hosting and con-
of Sina Weibo, AcFun and tent-delivery services. The In this April 27, 2017 photo, staff members wait for visitors at a booth for Chinese microblogging
Phoenix New Media’s if- technology ministry said it website Sina Weibo at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Beijing.
eng.com contained “neg- forbids use of virtual private Associated Press
ative comments” about networks and leased lines understand the scope of as of December, accord- news and entertainment
unspecified sensitive issues, to circumvent government the notice. ing to the company. videos.
the State Administration of filters and access banned It intends to fully cooperate Weibo Corp.’s stock mar- AcFun is a video-sharing
Press, Publication, Radio websites abroad. with the relevant authori- ket value surged past that site that is popular with
Film and Television said. It Following Thursday’s order, ties,” said a Weibo Corp. of Twitter early this year. It young Chinese.
ordered them to stop the Weibo Corp. shares fell 6.1 statement. stood at $15.8 billion after In a statement on its Weibo
services. percent on the Nasdaq Sina Weibo’s main business Thursday’s selloff — or more account, AcFun promised
Communist leaders pro- market and shares of Sina is a microblog service simi- than double the $6.2 billion to carry out a “compre-
mote internet use for busi- fell 4.8 percent. lar to U.S.-based Twitter Inc. market value of its parent hensive rectification” of its
ness and education but try “The company is commu- It is one of the world’s most company — compared website management to
to block access to material nicating with the relevant popular social media ser- with $13.2 billion for Twitter. create a “clear and bright
deemed subversive or ob- government authorities to vices, with 313 million users ifeng.com broadcasts brief online environment.”q

Google to stop reading your Gmail to help sell ads

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — scanning those accounts
Google is going to stop as well. By ending all scan-
reading your Gmail in ning, Google can put such
search of opportunities to concerns to rest as it tries
sell ads. to sell the service to even
The change announced more businesses.
Friday will end a prac- Gmail now ranks as the
tice that Google has em- world’s largest email ser-
braced since the company vice, an indication that
introduced Gmail in 2004. most people didn’t care
The practice has raised about Google’s scanning
concerns among privacy methods. Both Microsoft
watchdogs and creeped and Apple have publicly
out some users. skewered Google for hav-
To help finance the free ing the audacity to mine us-
service, Google has been ers’ emails for ad sales, but
scanning through what those attacks didn’t under-
Gmail users were discussing cut Gmail’s popularity.q
and then showing ads con-
nected to some of the top-
ics. Someone writing about This March 23, 2010, file photo shows the Google logo at the Google headquarters in Brussels.
running, for instance, might Associated Press
see ads for Nike or Asics termine which ads are most Google says it’s changing so the company has never
shoes. Google still plans likely to appeal to each of course so its free Gmail ser- tried to scan the content of
to show ads within Gmail. its 1.2 billion Gmail users. vice operates more like the those users’ emails for mar-
But instead of scanning The Mountain View, Califor- subscription version that it keting purposes.
through email content, the nia, company said it would has sold to more than 3 mil- Yet some business custom-
company’s software will stop the ad-driven scan- lion companies. The paid ers might have believed in-
rely on other signals to de-
ning of Gmail later this year. Gmail doesn’t include ads, correctly that Google was