"Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Data Regulations (Draft for Comment)" was publicly solicited for comments a few days ago. Among them, in view of the problem of using big data to "kill" the network platform, the opinion draft clearly puts forward a heavier punishment: if the illegal income does not exceed 1 10,000 yuan, the punishment will start from 50,000 yuan. If the circumstances are serious, a fine of less than 50 million yuan or less than 5% of the turnover of the previous year may be imposed.

At the level of fair competition in data, Shenzhen has taken the lead in clarifying the punishment basis for killing big data in the form of local legislation. This pioneering exploration is undoubtedly targeted and has accumulated experience for other regions.

For a long time, with the increasing dependence of consumers on the network, some network platforms began to treat consumers differently according to the collected user data and the algorithm advantages based on user portraits. For example, old users are more expensive than new users, or members are more expensive than ordinary users.

Treating different consumers differently, this price discrimination that harms fair trade takes advantage of the deep dependence of "regular customers" on the platform. Moreover, according to media reports, big data killing has been staged in almost all fields such as e-commerce, online car rental, take-away, and online travel. Some head internet platforms are caught in the whirlpool of public opinion.

The emerging phenomenon of big data killing is a microcosm of the barbaric growth of the Internet industry. Of course, in the past two years, with the increase of user complaints, the governance of similar violations of consumers' fair trade rights has also been continuously strengthened.

For example, in February this year, the Anti-monopoly Committee of the State Council issued the Anti-monopoly Guide in the Field of Platform Economy, which clearly regulated and restricted the behavior of "giving different treatment to counterparties with the same trading conditions" and directly targeted at the killing of big data.

However, it is only a departmental regulation after all. So far, the Anti-Monopoly Law and other relevant laws and regulations have all involved in the strangulation of big data, but there is still a lack of detailed legal characterization and punishment standards. Therefore, as the first demonstration area, Shenzhen made a legislative demonstration through local legislation, killing big data.

It is worth mentioning that some network platforms dare to kill big data unscrupulously, on the one hand, it is the advantage of the algorithm, on the other hand, for those "regular customers", the killing behavior is quite hidden, and it is difficult for ordinary people to find it in the daily consumption process. Even if it is found that in the face of a huge platform, safeguarding rights is extremely difficult.

In order to alleviate the current situation of data rights protection, the Regulations (Opinion Draft) mentioned exploring the establishment of a public interest litigation system in the data field, so that more professional industry organizations can also file lawsuits against the platform. This kind of attempt and exploration is tantamount to supporting users who are in a weak position in the era of big data algorithms, and it can also force the platform to compete fairly and win by service and word of mouth, rather than by killing.

Of course, Shenzhen's opinion draft is still in the stage of public consultation, and it remains to be seen whether it can produce the expected power in concrete practice after landing. But in any case, in the unscrupulous background of big data, it is necessary to avoid the ever-expanding network platform bringing users and using the advantages of algorithms to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and further strengthen the constraints and penalties on the platform. Only if the punishment for killing big data is justified, the platform will not dare to mess around at will.