China's Algorithmic Recommendation Provisions

The Cyberspace Administration of China and three other agencies issued the Provisions on the Administration of Algorithm-generated Recommendations for Internet Information Services. They took effect on March 1, 2022. The rules reach internet information service providers that use algorithmic recommendation technology to provide services, including synthetic content, personalized push, ranking, search filtering, and work scheduling. Coverage turns on the specified service and conduct, not any use of machine learning. The provisions require providers to inform users in a conspicuous way that recommendation services are being used and disclose basic principles, purposes, and main operating mechanisms appropriately. They require an option that does not target a user’s personal characteristics or a convenient way to turn off recommendation services; after a user opts out, the related service must stop. Users must also be able to select or delete personal tags used for recommendation. The provisions address minors and older people, and impose additional governance on providers with public-opinion or social-mobilization capacity. Work-related rules apply to platforms using recommendation algorithms to schedule work or determine compensation. They call for improving dispatch, compensation, working hours, and rest protections, and for engaging workers’ representatives or unions in relevant arrangements. They prohibit unreasonable differential treatment in transaction conditions, including price, based on consumer preferences, transaction habits, or other characteristics without legitimate justification. This is the context for the colloquial phrase “big data killing the familiar,” but the legal test should be taken from the text rather than the slogan. Providers have further obligations concerning algorithmic security, records, assessment, and cooperation with regulators. Some providers must complete algorithm filing with the CAC and publish filing information. This is a specific administrative filing regime; it is not a general license required of every AI model. The provisions sit within China’s broader internet-content and data-governance system. A company assessing exposure should examine service function, user location, provider role, filing status, and later rules that may also apply.