Algorithmic recommendation and filing

Algorithmic filing: who must file, when, and must it be published afterwards?

What you may need to do

1. Confirm whether your service has public-opinion attributes or social-mobilisation capacity
2. Submit the filing information within ten working days from the date the service is provided
3. Handle a modification within ten working days of any change to the filing information
4. Handle deregistration within twenty working days when the service stops, with proper arrangements made
5. Display the filing number in a prominent position on the website and app, with a link to the published information

Statutory basis

One-sentence conclusion

The filing duty presupposes public-opinion attributes or social-mobilisation capacity. Where that precondition is met, filing must be completed within ten working days from the date the service is provided; changes to the filing information require a modification, and stopping the service requires deregistration; once completed, the filing number must be displayed in a prominent position of the external service together with a link to the published information.

Basis

Article 24, first paragraph, sets out the act, the channel and the time limit: a provider of algorithmic recommendation services with public-opinion attributes or social-mobilisation capacity shall, within ten working days from the date the service is provided, report through the internet information service algorithmic filing system such information as the provider’s name, the form of service, the field of application, the type of algorithm, the algorithm self-assessment report and the content proposed for publication, and complete the filing. The second paragraph of the same article requires a modification to the filing to be handled within ten working days of the change; the third paragraph requires a provider that terminates its service to complete deregistration of the filing within twenty working days of termination and to make proper arrangements.

Article 25 sets the time limit for the receiving authority: the cyberspace administration departments at national and provincial, autonomous region and municipality level shall, on receiving filing materials that are complete, grant the filing within thirty working days, issue a filing number and publish it; where the materials are incomplete, the filing is not granted and the filer must be notified with reasons within thirty working days. Note that these thirty working days are the authority’s processing limit, not a reason for the enterprise to delay.

Article 26 is the publication duty: a provider that has completed filing shall indicate its filing number in a prominent position on the websites, applications and other channels through which it provides services externally, and provide a link to the published information.

What you need to do

• Put the conclusion on whether the service has public-opinion attributes or social-mobilisation capacity into writing first.
• Prepare the information in the fields listed in the provision; the algorithm self-assessment report and the content proposed for publication need internal review before they are finalised.
• Keep a register and set reminders against all three points in time: first filing, modification and deregistration.
• After launch, check that the footer and other prominent positions of the website, app and mini-program display the filing number and the link to the published information.
• Where the filing information no longer matches what the product actually does, submit a modification promptly.

Common pitfalls

Treating filing as a one-off action, so that a product which swaps its recommendation model or changes its field of application never files a modification. Reading from the date the service is provided as the date the company was incorporated or the project was approved. Completing the filing without publishing it, or hiding the link on a back-office page, which does not satisfy the prominent position requirement. Taking the service offline at termination without completing deregistration. One caution: the provisions do not specify a filing URL or a materials template beyond the filing system, so the concrete entry point and material requirements follow the position of the cyberspace administration authority for your locality, and circulated checklists should not be copied wholesale.

Follow-up questions

Executing details such as the format of the filing number and where the published information must sit are not presumed by this knowledge base; the position of the cyberspace administration authority for your locality governs.

Follow-up questions

Is there a single official filing URL?

The provision goes only as far as reporting through the internet information service algorithmic filing system, and the source documents give no specific URL. The entry point and the materials list follow the position of the cyberspace administration authority for your locality.

What if the filing information was entered incorrectly?

Article 24, second paragraph, requires a modification to the filing to be handled within ten working days of the change; correct it through that procedure.

What happens if the filing number is not published?

Article 26 is a publication duty; failing it falls within the range of penalty situations in Article 31, and the handling is decided by the cyberspace administration departments together with the telecommunications, public security and market regulation departments within their respective duties.

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