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Weibo sued for monopolistic practices limiting access to its data as China’s antitrust crackdown invites new challenges

  • Eefung Software is suing the microblogging platform for ‘directly destroying’ its business model by restricting access to data used to analyse public opinion
  • The case is China’s first civil antitrust lawsuit, showing an increased awareness among small firms of Beijing’s antitrust scrutiny

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Weibo, a subsidiary of Sina Corp, is being sued for restricting access to its data amid an antitrust crackdown from Beijing that may be emboldening smaller companies. Photo: Shutterstock
Xinmei Shen
Weibo, one of China’s biggest social media sites, is being sued by a small software company over alleged anticompetitive restrictions on the use of the microblogging platform’s data, which could test the limits of Beijing’s enhanced antitrust enforcement this year.
Eefung Software, based in the city of Changsha in southern Hunan province, sued Weibo Corp, owned by Shanghai-based Sina Corp, in a local court, arguing that the company’s refusal of a request to access data constitutes a monopolistic practice, according to an article posted to Eefung’s official WeChat account.

The 11-year-old software developer said the refusal is “directly destroying” its business model, which includes helping authorities discover and remove “harmful information” online using systems that “monitor and analyse online public opinion”. The company’s clients include multiple agencies at different levels of government, according to the WeChat post.

“The case demonstrates a growing awareness among Chinese businesses in invoking the antitrust law to gain better access to data during competition,” said Angela Zhang, an associate professor and director of the Centre for Chinese Law at the University of Hong Kong.

The case is the country’s first civil antitrust lawsuit, according to the Changsha government, and it comes nearly a year after Beijing started ramping up antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech companies, starting last December with the launch of an investigation into Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

In its suit, Eefung emphasised the size and influence of Weibo, saying the platform’s large user base and social influence made it an important birthplace of public opinion. Although the two companies share a “data cooperation relationship”, Eefung said Weibo has never allowed the use of its data.

Weibo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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