Feature Story | Corruption Among Employees of Major Tech Firms Rivals Government Officials—The Astonishing Soft Power of Internet Platforms (AI Translation)

特稿｜大厂员工贪腐堪比厅局级 互联网平台“软权力”惊人

Summary:

[para. 1] On May 15, a seminar on combating internal corruption in China's internet companies was held jointly by Beijing’s Haidian District People’s Court and the Internet Society of China, highlighting the severity of corruption within tech firms. An internal compliance director likened company staff’s greed to that of disgraced government officials, underscoring mounting concerns. The event coincided with the release of a “White Paper on Criminal Cases of Corruption by Internal Personnel of Internet Companies”, revealing that from 2020-2024, the Haidian court handled 127 criminal corruption cases involving internet company employees, with offenses including bribery, embezzlement, and misappropriation. The cumulative financial impact exceeded 305 million yuan.

[para. 2][para. 3] Of these cases, 93 (73.23%) implicated major internet firms, totaling over 184 million yuan (60.3% of the total), with an average illicit gain per case of nearly 2 million yuan. Corruption was especially prevalent in business departments—covering procurement, sales, product planning, and more—with 104 cases (81.89%) originating there. The white paper attributes this trend to business units’ direct resource control and the comparatively lax, flexible management structure, both factors that foster rent-seeking opportunities.

[para. 4] Across the 203 defendants—average age 36, ranging from 22 to 53—most held mid-level managerial responsibility (79 cases, 62.2%), making middle management a focal point for anti-corruption efforts. However, corruption was not exclusive to managers; significant cases involved grassroots employees as well. Corruption is widespread throughout the hierarchy, including entry-level employees and even outsourced personnel, due to the substantial authority some positions hold in major internet companies.

[para. 5][para. 6] For instance, ordinary employees’ corruption cases collectively accounted for 55.67 million yuan, averaging 1.265 million yuan per case. The case of Gao Chuanfeng, former head of catering at ByteDance, is notable: he accepted over 10 million yuan in bribes from suppliers between 2017-2020. Gao was sentenced to six years in prison after appeal, illustrating that non-core departments (like logistics) are also corruption hotspots.

[para. 7][para. 8][para. 9] The white paper discusses “platform soft power”—the quasi-public authority internet platforms wield via resource management, contract approvals, user control, and more. From 2020-24, 39 cases involved the abuse of such authority, totaling over 67 million yuan. Examples include a Hangzhou e-commerce employee who accepted over 92 million yuan in bribes for store application approvals, and another who accepted 3 million yuan in exchange for manipulating video platform administrative privileges. The prevalence of corruption in such roles is exacerbated by limited external oversight and subjective evaluation criteria.

[para. 10][para. 11][para. 12] Internet firms have established anti-corruption and compliance departments, successfully uncovering and punishing offenders—Tencent, for instance, dismissed over 100 employees in 2024, with 20 referred to police. Still, the white paper notes corruption is harder to detect in tech firms due to complex operations, sophisticated financial flows, and a reliance on self-reporting or tips, which means malfeasance can persist for years. Additionally, the high costs and public relations risks of legal action push some companies to resolve cases internally, impeding overall governance.

[para. 13][para. 14] Internal anti-corruption teams lack judicial powers and face challenges collecting evidence and balancing privacy. Instead, they often focus on prevention—through job rotation, education, and practical deterrents, such as prison visits. A further obstacle is the lag of compliance systems behind rapid business innovation, which creates blind spots and opportunities for corruption. The consensus is that tech firms must evolve from reactive investigations to a proactive, risk management-based approach to effectively combat corruption.