China eyes steeper cybersecurity fines to intimidate offenders as Big Tech firms fall in line
- Proposed amendments to China’s Cybersecurity Law raise the maximum fine for certain offences to 50 million yuan, up from 1 million yuan
- A cyberspace vice-minister said last month that internet law enforcement should ‘grow teeth’ and the punishments should ‘make one’s heart jump’
China’s internet watchdog has proposed a series of amendments to the country’s five-year-old Cybersecurity Law, giving the rules more teeth as the regulator seeks to shore up law enforcement.
Under the update, a range of offences – including when a network operator fails its duty to protect cybersecurity by stopping the spread of illegal information – will be met with a fine of up to 50 million yuan (US$7.17 million) or 5 per cent of the firm’s turnover in the previous year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Wednesday.
At present, the penalties are capped at 1 million yuan.
Once enforced, new fines could potentially reach billions of yuan, on a par with those that were recently levied against major internet companies, such as ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and on-demand service platform Meituan, according to Stanford University’s DigiChina Project, which tracks China’s technology policies.
Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
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