Jack Ma's media assets could come under China's thumb, pressure mounts to sell SCMP

Alibaba Group’s South China Morning Post has entered the list of media that could possibly come under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as per reports by Bloomberg. While the Hong Kong daily had already sparked a slew of backlash for its tilt towards Beijing during pro-democracy protests, the possible takeover would mean a final nail in the coffin of Hong Kong’s free-wheeling media. As per the report, the main reason behind CCP’s interest in SCMP is its growing influence over public opinion in China. As per reports, the CCP has been pressuring Jack Ma owned Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to sell the publication to a Chinese state-owned firm since the last year. While the discussion of the takeover began in 2020, there is no specific buyer identified as of now. Meanwhile, the news has left employees of the newspaper concerned. Many of them have shown apprehension about the possible end of its editorial independence. Speaking to Bloomberg, Keith Richburg, director of the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong and president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong said that in case, a Chinese entity takes over, then they would change the newspaper’s editorial line. Furthermore, he said that the idea that the SCMP might be sold at a time when people in Beijing are talking about the need for ‘patriots’ to be running media entities is “ very, very concerning.” Why does China want to take over? Chinese officials are alarmed by the Alibaba group’s influence over social media in China especially as it holds a major stake in Twitter-like Weibo-China's most popular social networking site. Since taking over SCMP in 2015, Ma has successfully built a sprawling portfolio of media outlets that enjoy colossal influence online. Additionally, they are also upset about its role in an online scandal that involved Jiang Fan, one of its own executives. In December, Chinese regulators launched the anti-monopoly probe of the Alibaba Group as CCP is attempting to limit the rapidly-growing power of the tech industries. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government reportedly worries about the dominance of the competitors including Jack Ma’s Alibaba which is now one of the world’s biggest companies by sales volume and Tencent Holding which is the operator of the WeChat messaging service.

Advertisement

Jack Ma's media assets could come under China's thumb, pressure mounts to sell SCMP

Alibaba Group’s South China Morning Post has entered the list of media that could possibly come under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Advertisement