
Beijing calls out Amazon, ByteDance, NetEase for violating users’ rights in latest crackdown
- The 145 named apps have until July 26 to take corrective measures or face punishment, the Ministry of Information Technology (MIIT) said on Monday
- The MIIT has named and shamed over 1,300 apps since 2019 for illegally collecting user information, requesting excessive permissions or misleading customers
Amazon said in an emailed statement that it will “continue to coordinate closely with the ministry to ensure we are meeting its requirements”. Other app operators did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
China’s Big Tech face new reality under Beijing’s data oversight
The ministry has singled out more than 1,300 apps to date for illegally collecting user information, requesting excessive permissions or misleading customers.
The 145 apps must take corrective measures before July 26 or face punishment, the ministry said.
In the past, however, most apps named by the ministry were allowed to continue operation with only a small percentage shut down for good. Out of the 41 apps first called out as problematic, for instance, three were shut down and only one of them is still unavailable.

The MIIT, as well as the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), is a powerful agency with a broad remit that covers the technology and internet sectors.
Regulators have also been working on strengthening consumer data protection including punishing apps that collect too much data after rampant data leaks in the country exposed the information of millions of online users.

07:30
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Additional reporting by Iris Deng and Josh Ye.
