Aug 23, 2018

Steve Weber: China Growing Wary of Tech Companies Influence

From CNN Money

Tencent’s troubles are far from over

By Sherisse Pham

Tencent is having a tough year.

Not long ago, the Chinese social media and video game giant was worth more than Facebook (FB), but it has lost roughly $140 billion in market value since its stock hit an all-time high in January, and its latest earnings were a big disappointment...

Steve Weber, a political scientist specializing in technology and international politics at the University of California, Berkeley said the Chinese government’s message to Tencent is clear: “If we want to shut off the money taps, we can shut off the money taps.”

Besides being the world's largest gaming company, Tencent also created WeChat, China’s biggest messaging platform, which has more than 1 billion users.

China has a history of censoring digital content. It is also growing increasingly wary — like Europe and the United States — of the influence top tech companies wield, according to Weber.

Governments are starting to realize “that they probably under-regulated these industries vis-à-vis their economic and social impact,” he said.

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Steve Weber is a professor in the UC Berkeley School of Information and faculty director of Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity.

Last updated:

September 10, 2018