cyberspace Photo:VCG

An increasing number of young people in China are disguising their cyberspace personas to counter so-called algorithm-driven price discrimination and obtain fairer prices.

The topic "Young people are starting to reverse-domesticate big data price discrimination" went viral on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, with the thread ranking second on Sunday, counting over 60 million views as of press time. 

Recently, the Beijing Youth Daily reported that an online travel agency user repeatedly left comments such as "The tickets are too expensive," which eventually helped the user reduce a flight ticket's price from 4,309 yuan ($592.21) to 1,903 yuan.

Netizens explained that these comments changed the system's user profile from "a wealthy traveler" to a "budget-conscious one," lowering the ticket price for the user.

By actively expressing opinions through leaving comments and feedback, young netizens create their online personas to "manipulate" platforms' algorithms and specific pricing models in order to access more diverse information and much cheaper price options. 

A Beijing-based white-collar worker surnamed Zhao told the Global Times on Sunday that she often switches between taxi-hailing platforms before taking a ride. 

"This is because some apps can detect when users are hesitating over offered prices on different platforms, and some platforms will offer discount vouchers in order to grab the order," she said, noting that the strategy also works for ordering coffee online.

In addition, young people are now trying to use online anonymity and invisibility to counter algorithmic recommendations. For instance, users on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu tend to use similar avatars and IDs to mask their personal information and evade algorithmic tracking, so as to avoid identity-based advertisement tracking and recommendations.

China's internet and market regulators have stepped up efforts to curb the illegal use of personal data by platforms for profiteering.  

The Cyberspace Administration of China announced plans on November 24 to launch a joint campaign to purify the online environment and enhance governance over algorithm issues on major network platforms until February 14, 2025. 

The major targets of the campaign are addressing the reckless pursuit of profit and the use of algorithms for differential pricing based on users' data, commonly referred to as big data-enabled price discrimination against customers, said the announcement. 

The new regulations on the implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, which went into effect on July 1, 2024, also made detailed provisions on business operators' obligations, including protection of consumers' personal data safety, price transparency and avoiding fraudulent advertisement.

Global Times