--- title: "China's algorithm filing rule: a switch to turn off the feed, and a ban on \"big-data price gouging" date: 2026-10-21 category: Policy & Governance site: NeuroAI canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-policy-algorithm-recommendation-rule language: en --- # China's algorithm filing rule: a switch to turn off the feed, and a ban on "big-data price gouging > The Algorithm Recommendation Management Provisions (互联网信息服务算法推荐管理规定), in force since 1 March 2022, require platforms to file opinion-shaping algorithms, let users kill personalization, and forbid price discrimination by algorithm. Two shoppers open the same app for the same item and see two prices. A worker sees a schedule no one will explain. A user wants the feed to stop guessing — and, since 2022 in China, the law says the platform has to let them. The rule that does this is the **Provisions on the Management of Algorithm Recommendation for Internet Information Services (互联网信息服务算法推荐管理规定)**. It is older than the generative-AI rules but in some ways more ahead of its time: it reaches the recommendation engines that quietly shape what a billion people read, buy, and watch every day. ## The rule, and where it stands This is **formally adopted and in force**, not a draft. It was published as **Order No. 9** jointly by the Cyberspace Administration of China (国家互联网信息办公室), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部), the Ministry of Public Security (公安部), and the State Administration for Market Regulation (国家市场监督管理总局). The four ministers signed it on 31 December 2021, and it took effect on **1 March 2022**. Its scope is broad on purpose. "Algorithm recommendation technology" covers generative-synthesis, personalized-push, ranking-and-curation, retrieval-and-filter, and scheduling-and-decision algorithms — essentially every mechanism a platform uses to decide what a user sees. ## Who must file, and what filing means The provisions create a filing system (备案) for algorithms with "public-opinion attributes or social-mobilization capability (舆论属性或者社会动员能力)" — the ones that can shape discourse or organize crowds. Providers must: - file within **10 working days** of launching the service, through the official system at beian.cac.gov.cn; - refile within **10 working days** of any change; - and cancel the filing within **20 working days** of shutting the service down. The regulator reviews and, for complete materials, records the filing, issues a number, and publishes it within 30 working days. Completed filings must show their number prominently in the app or site. Notably, the filing is explicit that it is not an endorsement — it records the algorithm, it does not certify the company. The system went live on 1 March 2022, the same day the provisions took effect. ## The user's three rights The provisions are best known for what they hand to users. - **The right to know (知情权)** — providers must tell users they are getting algorithm recommendation, and disclose the basic principle, purpose, and main mechanism. - **The right to choose (选择权)** — users get an option that is not based on their personal profile, or a simple switch to turn recommendation off; flip the switch and the service must stop at once. Users can also view and delete the personal tags the algorithm built on them. - **The right to complain** — a working appeals and reporting channel with stated timelines. For a daily user, the practical win is the off-switch: the personalized feed becomes a choice, not a default you cannot escape. ## Bans that matter to daily life Several clauses target abuses people actually feel. - **No "big-data price gouging" (大数据杀熟)** — Article 21 forbids using a consumer's preferences or transaction history to impose unreasonable price differences on the same transaction terms. - **No engineered addiction** — providers may not build models that induce overuse or overspending. - **No fake news by algorithm** — news services must be licensed and may not generate or spread synthetic false news. - **No manipulation of public opinion** — no buying followers, faking likes, or rigging rankings and hot-search lists to steer discourse or dodge oversight. - **Protected groups** — extra duties around minors (no addictive推送), the elderly (accessible, fraud-aware service), and workers (fair scheduling, pay, and rest in gig platforms). ## Penalties Enforcement is real but graduated. For the listed violations, where no heavier law applies, the authorities can warn, circulate criticism, order correction, and — if a provider refuses or the case is serious — suspend information updates and fine between **RMB 10,000 and RMB 100,000 (about USD 1,400 to USD 14,000 / HKD 10,900 to HKD 109,000)**. Other articles route to the heavier penalties in their underlying laws. Filing obtained by hiding facts or faking materials can be revoked. ## Why it set a global template Legal scholars in China describe the provisions as the first systematic, whole-process regulation of algorithm recommendation — covering transparency, filing, user rights, and protected groups in one instrument. The filing registry, the mandatory off-switch, and the explicit ban on algorithmic price discrimination all prefigure debates now happening in the EU and elsewhere. For foreign platforms operating in China, the takeaway was operational: recommendation systems needed a compliance layer, a public disclosure, and a user-facing control, years before similar requirements landed in other markets. ## Honest limitations - **Filing is disclosure, not approval.** A recorded algorithm is not vetted for safety; the registry shows what exists, it does not certify it. - **Opt-out depends on the interface.** The right exists, but its real weight rests on whether providers make the switch easy to find — a compliance point, not a one-time fix. - **Scope is domestic.** The provisions bind services offered in China; their influence abroad is normative, not jurisdictional. - **Enforcement depth varies.** As with most platform rules, the lived experience depends on how actively regulators police and how readily users claim their rights. ## What readers can do now - **If you use Chinese platforms**, look for the algorithm-recommendation toggle and the "not personalized" option — they are a legal right since March 2022, not a courtesy. - **If you build or run a platform in China**, stand up the filing at beian.cac.gov.cn before launch for any opinion-shaping algorithm, and ship a visible off-switch plus tag-deletion; the RMB 10,000–100,000 penalty is the floor, not the ceiling. - **If you study governance**, treat this 2022 rule as the seed of China's later generative-AI controls — the same logic of register, disclose, and let users opt out recurs in the labeling and generative-AI measures. --- Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-policy-algorithm-recommendation-rule Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.