The move by Chinese authorities to take an equity stake and board seat in ByteDance’s China subsidiary isn’t a one-off. It’s part of Beijing’s effort to increase oversight of all social media and news, which means other major owners of online content platforms, such as Tencent, Alibaba and Kuaishou, will likely be on the receiving end of similar government actions, according to tech investors and corporate lawyers in China.
China’s government, which has long owned and controlled traditional newspapers and TV broadcasters, for years has been taking steps to exert more influence over the management of online media platforms as well—long before the recent regulatory crackdown that has ensnared some of the same companies. The ruling Communist Party uses the media to shape public opinion and maintain its hold on power, so it needed to play catch-up after news websites and apps began driving politically sensitive or sensational topics.
