PPOL held a seminar on 9 December 2022 titled, “Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty”, inviting Professor Aynne Kokas, the C.K. Yen Professor at the Miller Center and the associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, to discuss her book of the same name. Around 60 participants joined the seminar via Zoom, and thought-provoking topics were discussed during the Q&A session. Professor Masaru Yarime was the moderator of the event.
One of the significant arguments discussed was how fragmented data regulations and the regulatory asymmetry environment lead to exploitative data collection and uneven data trading practices between China and the United States. The fragmented regulatory environment in Silicon Valley that privileges industry and growth enables a situation where the more profitability a company is able to pursue, the more ability it has to move forward with global market growth. This open and extractive model allows the Chinese government to expand digital sovereignty globally. Professor Aynne Kokas also shared that there are currently no mechanisms in place in Washington to limit that growth, even if there are potential security concerns or influence concerns in Hollywood. In addition, the regulatory asymmetry environment allows Chinese firms to gather data globally, yet most other digital platforms face more difficulties in doing the same in China. Through asymmetrical trade and the extractive business model pioneered by the American tech sector, she argued that the Chinese government could amplify the data trade between the United States and China, resulting in a US-China tech relationship that destabilizes global user data. Establishing a bilateral agreement was suggested in the Q&A session to encourage greater consensus building on what constitutes data privacy and acceptable data flows.
For media enquiries, please contact Miss April Chiu of the Division of Public Policy at HKUST (Email: aprilchiu@ust.hk / Tel: 3469 2721)
PPOL held a seminar on 9 December 2022 titled, “Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty”, inviting Professor Aynne Kokas, the C.K. Yen Professor at the Miller Center and the associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, to discuss her book of the same name. Around 60 participants joined the seminar via Zoom, and thought-provoking topics were discussed during the Q&A session. Professor Masaru Yarime was the moderator of the event.