Beijing authorities have ordered China’s largest internet companies to stop blocking links from their rivals on their apps, in a move to boost competition in a sector dominated by only a small number of companies, reports The Wall Street Journal. Moves blocking app users from accessing rivals’ services from within those apps have become common practice among large technology companies in China.
An official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that after receiving multiple complaints from users, authorities have made the move against blocking external links a key focus of the crackdown that started in July.
Companies including Tencent, Alibaba, ByteDance and Baidu were among those called to a meeting last Thursday with Chinese officials to discuss the issue, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.
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