China tech watchdog warns Internet firms against blocking rivals

China’s regulators have ordered the country’s tech companies to prise open their so-called walled gardens or closed ecosystems, as part of a campaign to curb their growing power. — Reuters

China’s top technology regulator warned Internet firms on Sept 13 against blocking links to rival services, reaffirming Beijing’s order for online giants from Tencent Holdings Ltd to ByteDance Ltd to dismantle walls around their platforms.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has summoned executives from the country’s online platforms to emphasise the need to stop shutting out each other’s services, ministry spokesman Zhao Zhiguo told reporters in Beijing. Companies fail to realise that’s a problem for users, he said without naming specific firms.