China’s internet watchdog, which stunned investors with an investigation into Didi Global two days after the ride-hailing giant’s New York stock market debut, has come to the forefront of Beijing’s sweeping efforts to rein in its tech sector and enforce tightening data security efforts.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), set up in its current format in 2014 by President Xi Jinping, implements online censorship that has tightened dramatically under his tenure. The agency champions Beijing’s policy of “internet sovereignty” that keeps China’s massive online ecosystem behind the country’s Great Firewall.
