Internet needs a shared but differentiated governance: Jack Ma

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, addresses the Second World Internet Conference's closing ceremony on Friday in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, called for building a shared but differentiated governance for the Internet on Friday.

Ma made the announcement at the closing ceremony of the Second World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

"The Internet needs to be governed by all", said Ma, who is also co-chairman of the Global Internet Governance Alliance. Ma compared the Internet to water in Wuzhen, which are both clean, public, and interconnected.

"Different countries have different cultures, and their ways of governing the Internet is indeed different. No matter what others say, there is a lot we can learn from China's experience on governing the Internet."

Ma said, "Under such supervision, China has come to nearly 700 million Internet users. The country has big-time Internet giants such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, as well as many innovations under such regulation."

"Before, I objected to regulate Alibaba's online shopping sites, but now with the emergence of fake commodities, regulation is necessary," said Ma.

"The Internet has turned human beings into a community of a shared future. If we don't have systematic governance on the development of the Internet, it will pose a challenge to all human beings."

He also emphasized the profound impact of the Internet on today's world.

"There are 3.2 billion Internet users in the world, among which 1.5 billion were born after the 1980s. In China alone, there are hundreds of millions of Internet users. We take one month as one year, and one year as ten years. Issues can be viewed differently in perspectives with the help of a powerful Internet. "

The Internet has profoundly affected almost every facet of Chinese people's lives including communication, transportation, and entertainment.

Ma made a joke on the development of the Internet by citing the words posted by Zhou Hongyi's (chairman of Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd) Weibo account which reads 'the world changes overnight. I became the eldest and most popular online celebrity'.

The words correlate to a photo that shows Zhou sleeping at a sub forum in the Second World Internet Conference while Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Inc and a business rival of Zhou, gives him a meaningful look.

The Second World Internet Conference is the highest profiled Internet event in China. It took place in the picturesque water town of Wuzhen from Dec 16 to 18.

The conference's goal was to build a cyberspace community of shared destiny. The conference welcomed 2,000 participants including state leaders, government officials, business leaders, Internet titans, and experts from more than 120 countries and regions.